Somalia - Hussein Mohammed Aidid

"Aideed" means "rejector of insults." In Hussein's case, it also means "AWOL." Ironically, Somalia's newest warlord, Hussein Mohammed Aideed, is a corporal in the United States Marine Reserve who served as a translator for the Marines in Somalia in 1992-93, and who has been conspicuously absent from his Pico Rivera, California, artillery unit since 1995. Hussein Aideed is the son of the slain General Mohammed Farah Aideed, and once worked as a $9-an-hour municipal clerk for the city of West Covina, California, and graduated from high school there. He joined the Marine Corps Reserves in 1987, last reporting for duty in July 1995. He moved back to Somalia shortly afterwards. Aideed was first brought to the United States as a teenager by his mother, Asli Dhubat, Gen. Aideed's first wife. Interviewed by the Associated Press in Somalia, Aideed said he valued his Marine experience: "I'm proud of my background and military discipline," he said. "Once a Marine, always a Marine." His CO isn't in complete agreement, however. Aideed's top foreign policy advisor also spent time in the United States; he was a Washington cab driver for three years-making him overly qualified in this "regime." When DP's Rob Krott hired about 100 U.S. Somalis for a Department of the Army project, about 10 percent were Washington area cab drivers. If you want to shoot the breeze on your next trip you can find Aideed in his headquarters in Southern Mogadishu.