President Ismail Omar Guelleh of Djibouti

Ismail Omar GuellehIsmail Omar Guelleh was elected president of Djibouti in 1999.

English: Ismail Omar Guelleh is the President of Djibouti.

Guelleh was born in Dire Dawa, Ethiopia.

Guelleh was nominated by the RPP as its presidential candidate for a second time on October 7, 2004, at an Extraordinary Congress of the party.

Ismail Omar Guelleh was elected president of Djibouti in 1999.

Guelleh was optimistic about the future of relations between France and Djibouti, declaring that this incident would not affect relations between the two countries.

Varnishing palatable sugar-coating to his infamous past identity as head of a brutal secret service, Guelleh has succeeded in blending political pragmatism with his Machiavellian dexterity.

A passionate advocate of Pan-Arabism, a collaborator of United States in its War on Terror, a fervent follower of Islamist doctrine who flirts with shadowy Islamist movements, Guelleh is a man with many faces.

In fear of his own personal power, Guelleh has not groomed a successor.

President Guelleh is known for his flamboyance and spendthrift (not to mention his deeply ingrained passion for women, alcohol and Khat), though 95% of his subjects live in abject poverty.

Though Guelleh denies any knowledge of the allegedly booming drug and money laundering business in his tiny city-state, it is becoming clear that Djibouti is run like a private gangland by Guellehs filthy-rich family and a host of cronies and debauched henchmen.

At the home front, Guelleh has effectively quelled political dissent.

Guelleh was incriminated on the death of judge Borrel, but refused to cooperate with France on the investigation, partly to protect himself and his loyalists.

Despite the fact that his regime is one of the most repressive authoritarian, surrounded by corruption, mismanagement, money-laundering, drug-trafficking and political stagnation and suppresses dissent with unsavory means, President Guelleh remained relatively unscathed by the Bush Administrations quest for regime change elsewhere in Africa and the Middle East.

In securing his position internationally, Guelleh has been free to use his hold on the capital city and the port to pay off his machine, play upon Issa interests, and marginalize the opposition.

Guelleh has fatefully taken the familiar path of his likeminded predecessors - the likes of Mobutu Sese Seko, General Samuel Doe, Ferdinand Marcos, and General Augusto Pinochet.

Background Guelleh was born in Dire DawaDire Dawa Dire Dawa is one of two chartered cities in Ethiopia.

Guelleh was the only candidate in the presidential electionheld on April 8, 2005.

President Ismail Omar Guelleh expressed his sincere thanks and appreciation for the warm welcome and fraternal hospitality accorded by the people and government of Ethiopia to him and to the members of his delegation during their stay in Ethiopia.

country's intentions to work closely with Ethiopia.

In the presidential election held April 8, 2005 Ismail Omar Guelleh was re-elected to a second 6-year term at the head of a multi-party coalition that included the FRUD and other major parties.

Ismail Omar Guelleh took the oath of office as the second President of the Republic of Djibouti on May 8, 1999, with the support of an alliance between the RPP and the government-recognized section of the Afar-led FRUD.

Guelleh has also pledged to step down after his second six-year mandate and not try to repeal the presidential term limit enshrined in the constitution.

Since coming to power in 1999, Guelleh has turned Djibouti into a key western ally in the war on terrorism.

On Thursday, shortly after meeting with French President Nicolas Sarkozy in Paris, Djiboutian President Ismail Omar Guelleh said his conscience was clear in the case of the suspicious death of French judge Bernard Borrel in an exclusive interview with France 24.

Speaking about the presidential guard, Mohammed Saleh Aloumekani, who claimed that Guelleh was possibly involved in the murder, the Djiboutian president dismissed Aloumekanis claims as a false testimony.

The effect of the Borrell issue on Franco-Djiboutian relations Guelleh was optimistic about the future of relations between France and Djibouti, declaring that this incident would not affect relations between the two countries.

ADDIS ABABA (AFP) - Djibouti President Ismail Omar Guelleh said his army is in a dangerous border stand-off with neighbouring Eritrea's military, according to a release issued Friday.

Photo: IRIN President Ismael Omar GuellehNAIROBI, 9 May 2005 (IRIN) - Ismail Omar Guelleh was on Saturday sworn in for a second and final six-year term as president of the tiny Horn of Africa nation, the official news agency, Agence Djiboutienne d'Information (ADI), reported.

Djibouti’s second president, Guelleh was first elected to ofice in 1999, taking over from his uncle, Hassan Gouled Aptidon, who had ruled the country since its independence from France in 1977.

Eritrean President Issaias Afeworki on Monday ruled out talks with Djibouti after Eritrean soldiers last week opened fire on deserters crossing a frontier leaving nine Djibouti soldiers dead and dozens more soldiers wounded.

Apr 18 2001 - ( Somaliland Net ) Now that djiboutian dictator ismail omar guelleh has failed in his so-called 'somalian peace conference' he needs an escape goat who else than somaliland a prosperous nation who will not let go of its hard earned independance.

Early into his political career, Guelleh devoted much energy to breathing new life into the Popular African League presided over by Aptidon.

In 1976 Guelleh was a member of the Ligue Populaire Africaine pour l'Indpendance charged with negotiating terms of independence with Paris.

Guelleh had to manage two major challenges: internal and external security and the risk of ethnic violence.

Guelleh received 97 per cent of the 72 per cent of Djiboutis who voted in the elections.

Guelleh supports Djibouti's traditionally strong ties with France and has tried to reconcile conflicting factions in neighboring Somalia.

Ever since inauguration, Guelleh has reiterated his interest in the betterment of women's status.

In 2000, Guelleh had noted that, In spite of the energy spent by authorities, the sluggishness of reform due to cultural traditions constitutes the most important obstacle in our struggle for social equity.

President Guelleh said that Djibouti's forces had been withdrawn to their earlier positions in response to the Council's presidential statement, pointing out that that the standoff imposed on his country by Eritrea, was both "intolerable and inadmissible.

President Ismail Omar Guelleh is the head of state for Djibouti.