Barre Adan Shire Hiiraale

Barre Adan Shire باري ادن شاير
Minister of Defense of Somalia
In office 2004–2009
Personal details
Born	Geladi, Ethiopia

Barre Adan Shire (Somali: Barre Aadan Shire, Arabic: باري ادن شاير‎‎), also known as Barre Hiiraale, Barre "Hirale" Aden Shire, or Abdikadir Adan Shire, is a former Minister of Defense of the Somali Transitional Federal Government (TFG). He was previously the TFG Minister for National Reconstruction and Resettlement. Hiiraale was also the Chairman of the now defunct Juba Valley Alliance, which controlled Southern and Southwestern Somalia, including the nation's third-largest city, the strategic port town of Kismayo. During his time in office, Hiiraale presided over the country's largest autonomous area, as well as commanding an extensive militia.

Barre Hiiraale was born in Geladin, which today is part of the Ogaden region in Ethiopia. He later moved to neighbouring Abudwak in the Galgadud region of Somalia, and from there on to Mogadishu for secondary school. For his post-secondary education, Hiiraale attended the prestigious United States Military Academy at West Point. That scholarship and patronage were part of Cold War-era treaties signed by Mogadishu and Washington in exchange for Washington's use of naval facilities in the coastal Somali cities of Kismayo, Mogadishu, and Berbera. Hiiraale returned to Somalia with a degree in Military Science, as well as Political Relations in military warfare.

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