# Salaad Gabeyre Kediye

> Salaad Gabeyre Kediye (1933–1972): army officer, a leader of the 1969 takeover, member of the Supreme Revolutionary Council, arrested in 1971 and executed in 1972.

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Last checked: 2026-11-12
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## Who was he?

Salaad Gabeyre Kediye was born in 1933 in [Harardhere](/en/regions/harardhere/), in present-day [Mudug](/en/regions/mudug/), trained at the Frunze military academy in Moscow and served in the army from 1956 ([Wikipedia, Salaad Gabeyre Kediye](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salaad_Gabeyre_Kediye)). He received the Medal of Valour in 1964 and was the son-in-law of President [Aden Abdulle Osman](/en/people/aden-abdulle-osman/) (same source).

## The 1969 takeover

On 15 October 1969 President [Abdirashid Ali Shermarke](/en/people/abdirashid-ali-shermarke/) was killed by a bodyguard. On 21 October army units seized key points in Mogadishu and detained the government; the police co-operated ([Library of Congress, *Somalia: A Country Study*](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/20.htm)). Wikipedia records that Kediye was among the officers who led the takeover, was known as "the father of the revolution", and served on the [Supreme Revolutionary Council](/en/history/somali-democratic-republic-1969-1991/), which Major General [Siad Barre](/en/people/siad-barre/) soon headed. He became defence minister in 1970 ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salaad_Gabeyre_Kediye)). The wider story is told in [Siad Barre era, 1969–1991](/en/history/siad-barre-era-1969-1991/).

## Arrest, trial and execution

Writing in 1972, the anthropologist I. M. Lewis recorded that General Mohamed Ainanshe, a vice-president, and General Salad Gavaire (Salaad Gabeyre) were arrested in May 1971 and charged with a plot "to kill the revolution". They were tried and publicly executed on 3 July 1972 ([I. M. Lewis, "The politics of the 1969 Somali coup", *Journal of Modern African Studies* 10:3, 1972](https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/journal-of-modern-african-studies/article/politics-of-the-1969-somali-coup/5DD7B198F32DD414C643C0F2152C1CD8)). Wikipedia records that Colonel Abdulkadir Dheel was executed with them ([Wikipedia, Abdulkadir Dheel](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abdulkadir_Dheel)).

Lewis noted that the government itself arranged the funerals, a duty that by custom fell to the dead men's kin ([Lewis, 1972](https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/journal-of-modern-african-studies/article/politics-of-the-1969-somali-coup/5DD7B198F32DD414C643C0F2152C1CD8)).

## Sources differ

- **Rank.** Sources give lieutenant colonel, brigadier general or general.
- **Date of death.** 3 July 1972 in most sources; one later source gives October 1972.

## Read the primary sources yourself

- I. M. Lewis, "The politics of the 1969 Somali coup", *Journal of Modern African Studies* 10:3 (1972): [Cambridge](https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/journal-of-modern-african-studies/article/politics-of-the-1969-somali-coup/5DD7B198F32DD414C643C0F2152C1CD8).
- Library of Congress, *Somalia: A Country Study* (1993), Coup d'état: [text](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/20.htm).

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