Qamar Aden Ali
{{Short description|Somali lawyer and politician}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| name=Qamar Aden Ali
قمر آدم علي
| birthname=
| image=Qamar_Aden_Ali_died_2009.png
| imagesize=
| order=
| title=Minister of Health of Somalia
| term_start=2007
| term_end=December 3, 2009
| predecessor=Abdi Aziz Sheikh Yusuf
| successor=Aadan Xaaji Ibraahim Daaud
| birth_date= {{Birth-date|19 September 1957}}
| birth_place=Benadir, Somalia
| death_date={{death-date and age|3 December 2009|19 September 1957}}
| death_place=Mogadishu, Benadir, Somalia
| resting_place=Mogadishu, Benadir, Somalia
| signature=
| website=
| spouse=
| party=
| alma_mater=
| nationality=Somalian
British
| children=2 children
| education=Political science
Law
| occupation=Politician
Lawyer
}}
Qamar Aden Ali ({{langx|so|Qamar Aadan Cali}}, {{langx|ar|قمر آدم علي}}) (b. 19 September 1957 – d. 3 December 2009) was a Somali lawyer and politician. She was assassinated whilst serving as the Minister of Health in the Transitional Federal Government of Somalia.
Biography
Qamar was born on 19 September 1957 in a small village outside of Mogadishu, the capital of Somalia. She was the third of 11 children. Qamar spent her childhood in Mogadishu, where she also went to school and graduated from college. She subsequently moved abroad to East Germany to study political science, and later studied law in England. She eventually passed the bar as a lawyer and became a British citizen. In the mid-1990s, Qamar returned to her native Somalia, where she later joined the nation's Transitional Federal Government. From 2007 until her death, she served as the national Minister of Health.{{cite news|url=http://www.startribune.com/local/north/79694647.html?page=2&c=y|title=Minneapolis surgeon feels calling back to Somalia|author=Shah, Allie|work=Star Tribune|date=December 19, 2009|access-date=July 10, 2011}}
Assassination
On 3 December 2009, Qamar, along with Minister of Education Ahmed Abdulahi Waayeel and Minister of Higher Education Ibrahim Hassan Addow, was killed in a suicide bombing at the Hotel Shamo in Mogadishu.{{cite news |title=Somalia al-Shabab Islamists deny causing deadly bomb |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/8394528.stm |date=4 December 2009 | work=BBC News |access-date=4 December 2009}} They had been attending a Benadir University graduation ceremony,{{cite news|title=Somalia ministers killed by hotel suicide bomb|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/8392468.stm|access-date=October 30, 2016|work=BBC News|date=December 3, 2009}} while the male bomber had passed through security dressed as a woman in an Islamic veil.{{cite news|title=Somali military group denies role in suicide bomb|url=http://www.smh.com.au/world/somali-militant-group-denies-role-in-suicide-bomb-20091204-kawh.html|access-date=30 October 2016|work=Sydney Morning Herald|date=December 4, 2009}} The bombing was subsequently called a "national disaster" by President Sharif Sheikh Ahmed.
Qamar spoke to her brother, Mohamed Aden Ali, several hours before the attack. She had been attempting to convince him to return to Somalia for the new doctors programme. Following her death, he decided to continue Qamar's plans, saying "The legacy of my sister will go on, we will not stop. Let them know: The people of Somalia, they are ready to die, they are courageous people. We will never stop to give service to our people."{{cite news|last1=Yeun|first1=Laura|title=Local Somalis condemn suicide bombing in homeland|url=http://www.hiiraan.com/comments2-news-2009-dec-local_somalis_condemn_suicide_bombing_in_homeland.aspx|access-date=October 30, 2016|work=MPR News|date=December 13, 2009|via=Hiiraan Online}}
Legacy
There is a school named in her honour and this was to be renovated in 2018 as announced by the Somali Minister Deqa Yasin in November 2018.{{Citation|last=AMISOM Public Information|title=2018_11_24_Qamar_School_Rehabilitation-23|date=2018-11-24|url=https://www.flickr.com/photos/au_unistphotostream/45976827312/|access-date=2020-03-18}}
References
{{reflist|30em}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ali, Qamar Aden}}
Category:Deaths by explosive device
Category:Terrorism deaths in Somalia
Category:Assassinated Somalian politicians
Category:People assassinated by the Al-Shabaab (militant group)
Category:Health ministers of Somalia
Category:People murdered in Somalia
Category:Somalian murder victims
Category:Women government ministers of Somalia
Category:21st-century Somalian women politicians
Category:21st-century Somalian politicians
Category:2009 murders in Somalia
Category:African politicians assassinated in the 2000s