Hadrawi, Somali poet and national icon, dies at 79

Hadrawi

HARGEISA (Somaliguardian) – Prominent Somali poet and national icon Mohamed Ibrahim Warsame Hadrawi, whose quest for regime change under the communist dictator earned him years in jail and helped inspire the toppling of Mohamed Siad Barre in 1991, died on Thursday at 79, Somaliland President said.

Somaliland President Muse Bihi Abdi sent condolences to the family, loved ones and the Somali people over the death of the poet.

Hadrawi’s work was translated to different languages. During his stay at Lafole University near Mogadishu in the 1970s, his poems attracted the masses that felt betrayed by military putchists, who in their rise to power promised wide reforms and fight against corruption.

The poet has struggled with ill health in his home town of Burao in recent years.

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