Biographical Note

NEW PERMANENT REPRESENTATIVE OF SOMALIA PRESENTS CREDENTIALS

(Based on information received from the Protocol and Liaison Service.)

Ahmed Abdi Hashi, the new Permanent Representative of Somalia to the United Nations, today presented his credentials to Secretary-General Kofi Annan.

Prior to assuming his post, Mr. Hashi served from 1992 as Rights Advocate for Immigrants and Refugees in Toronto, Canada.  From 1978 to 1990, he served as Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Justice for his country in Mogadishu.  In that capacity among other duties, he chaired the Consultative Commission for Legislation, the Awqaf and Endowments Commission and the National Commission for Libraries and Museums.

Those appointments were preceded by a term as his country’s ambassador to the former German Democratic Republic in Berlin from 1976 to 1978 after serving a succession of appointments in his country’s Ministry of Justice from 1967 to 1973.  Those ranged from that of a Legal Officer to head of the Legal Drafting Service, from Acting Director for the Department of Legislation to head of the Legal Service, and from Acting Director of the Department of Political Affairs to Director General in the Ministry of Culture and Higher Education.  Before 1961, as a teacher, he attained the position of Headmaster for primary and intermediate schools in the Former British Somaliland.

Educated at his country’s Vocational Training Centre where he earned a teacher’s certificate, Mr. Hashi has a Masters Degree in Law with First Class Honours from Moscow P. Lumumba University.  He has been a member of his country’s National University Council and of its Bar Association.

Born on 10 June 1939, Mr. Hashi was named by Amnesty International as a prisoner of conscience while a political detainee from 1981-1984.

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