title: Abdullahi Ahmed Addow
text: # Abdullahi Ahmed Addow
  
  Abdullahi Ahmed Addow (Somali: Cabdilaahi Axmed Caddoow, Arabic: عبد الله أحمد أدو) is a Somali politician and diplomat.
  
  ## Early life
  
  Addow was born on 15 May 1936 in Brava, situated in the southeastern Lower Shabelle region of Somalia. He hails from the Habar Gidir sub-clan of the Hawiye.
  
  ## Career
  
  ### Ambassador and Finance Minister
  
  Between 1970 and 1980 and again from 1986 to 1988, he served as Somalia's Ambassador to the United States. From 1980 to 1984, he was also Minister of Finance of Somalia.
  
  ### Presidential candidate
  
  Addow has thrice run for President of Somalia. In 2000, during the Somali peace process held in Arta, Djibouti, he was defeated in the third ballot by the eventual winner, former Interior Minister Abdiqasim Salad Hassan. Addow received 92 votes against Hassan's 145.
  
  In 2004, Addow again for office in that year's presidential elections, losing 189–79 in the third round to former Puntland President, Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed. In mid-2012, Addow ran once more for president in Somalia's 2012 elections.
  
  