Siad Barre Government Morgan received his military training in Italy and the United States. As a
colonel, he was commander of the
Mogadishu sector, where the elite units of the Armed Forces were stationed (ca. 1980). Morgan then went on to become commander of the Red Berets, responsible for the
suppression of the revolt of the Majerteen United in the
Somali Salvation Democratic Front (SSDF) in 1982. From 1986 to 1988, as a general, he was the military commander of the
26th Sector (the region of
Somaliland), in which he led numerous successful battles against the
Somali National Movement (SNM) and overseen the bombardment of northern cities. In September 1990 Morgan was appointed
minister of defense and substitute head of state. Morgan plainly stated in a public video that "his militia are surviving on looted Rahwayn's grains", in order to promote the 'endurance' of his militia and motivate his tribal leaders to support his militia.
Somali Civil War Before the fall of the government and the
subsequent civil war, Morgan was recognized as a state-sponsored war criminal. Morgan was one of the main government officials who spearheaded
the state-sponsored genocide in Somaliland against the
Isaaq clan. This information was thoroughly documented by
Human Rights Watch. Morgan was never tried by the international courts for his
crimes against humanity. In January 1986, Morgan, who was Barre's bodyguard before he married his daughter reportedly told Isaaq nomads at a waterhole "if you Isaaqs resist, we will destroy your towns, and you will inherit only ashes". Morgan (later to be known as the Butcher of
Hargeisa) was also responsible for the policy letter written to his father-in-law during his time as the military governor of the north. In this letter which came to be known as 'The Letter of Death', he "proposed the foundations for a
scorched-earth policy to get rid of 'anti-Somali germs'". was officially a top secret report to the president on "implemented and recommended measures" for a "final solution" to Somalia's "Isaaq problem". Morgan indicated that the Isaaq people must be "subjected to a campaign of obliteration" in order to prevent them from "rais[ing] their heads again". He continued: "Today, we possess the right remedy for the virus in the [body of the] Somali State." Some of the "remedies" he discussed included: "Balancing the well-to-do to eliminate the concentration of wealth [in the hands of Isaaq]." In addition, he called for "the reconstruction of the Local Council [in Isaaq settlements] in such a way as to balance its present membership which is exclusively from a particular people [the Isaaq]; as well as the dilution of the school population with an infusion of [Ogaden] children from the Refugee Camps in the vicinity of Hargeisa". More extreme recommendations included: "Rendering uninhabitable the territory between the army and the enemy, which can be done by destroying the water tanks and the villages lying across the territory used by them for infiltration"; and "removing from the membership of the armed forces and civil service all those who are open to suspicion of aiding the enemy – especially those holding sensitive posts". In May 1988, Morgan and the Ethiopian deputy minister of Defence signed a peace accord in Hargeisa, resulting in Ethiopian troops being transferred from the Ogaden to Eritrea. William Clarke writes that Morgan was appointed
Somali National Army commander-in-chief on 25 November 1990.
Post-1991 On 8 January 1993 Morgan was one of the signatories of agreement reached at the UN-sponsored
Informal Preparatory Meeting on National Reconciliation, and the March 1993
Conference on National Reconciliation in Somalia, both in
Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. However, fighting continued in the country unabated. In December 1993, Morgan's troops captured
Kismayo, and awaited the departure of Belgian UN
peacekeepers who were stationed there. His troops had taken advantage of the UN's preoccupation with
Mohamed Farah Aidid and had rearmed and regrouped. In the late 1990s, Morgan began receiving Ethiopian military backing. Flights of weaponry were dispatched from Ethiopia to his forces.
Transitional National Government The
United Nations observed that Ethiopia had provided Morgan with arms and logistical support during his 2001 attempt to capture Kismayo. The
Transitional National Government (TNG) publicly accused Morgan of relying on Ethiopian support to seize Kismayo from TNG allied forces. Morgan was a member of the Ethiopian backed
Somalia Reconciliation and Restoration Council (SRRC), which opposed the TNG. Morgan made several attempts to capture Kismayo in the early 2000s. The BBC reported that had backing from the Ethiopians and was "...only major militia leader to refuse to participate in the peace process." Morgan was present at the conclusion of the peace talks in Kenya (2002–2004) in which a transitional Somali Transitional National Government (later to become the
Transitional Federal Government) was formed. This conclusion, however, was put to risk in September 2004 by the withdrawal of Morgan, who prepared his forces to attack Kismayo, controlled by the JVA which had ousted him in 1999. According to
Amnesty International "his presence at the peace talks, more than any of the other warlords, had highlighted the significance of the issue of impunity and its effect on human rights in the future." In May 2005 Morgan left Nairobi to pay a short visit with his militia in Mogadishu and talked to representatives of the USC. == Death and funeral ==