Tuesday December 16, 2025
Ali Aref Bourhan is seen in Carcassonne, southern France, on May 14, 1971, on the eve of his engagement to Régine Soulé. (Photo courtesy of the Fonds André Cros/City Archives of Toulouse, CC BY-SA 4.0)
DJIBOUTI CITY, Djibouti (HOL) — Ali Aref Bourhan, the dominant political figure who led Djibouti during the final decade of French colonial rule and played a defining role in the territory’s contested path to independence, died Monday after a long illness. He was 91.
President Ismail Omar Guelleh announced the death and offered condolences to Bourhan’s family and the nation, praising his long public service.
“Ali Aref Bourhan will remain forever in the hearts of our citizens as a tireless public servant, guided by a strong sense of duty and commitment to results,” Guelleh said in a statement posted on social media.
Bourhan served as president of the Territorial Council of the French Territory of the Afars and Issas from 1967 to 1976, effectively making him the territory’s top political authority in the years leading up to independence.
Earlier, he had served as vice president of the governing council from 1960 to 1966 as a member of the UNI party. He publicly resigned from that post in a broadcast on Radio Djibouti, saying he wanted to participate directly in the referendum that would determine the territory’s political future.
He was later succeeded as council president by Abdallah Mohamed Kamil, who went on to become Djibouti’s first prime minister after independence in 1977.
As Djibouti moved toward independence, Bourhan expressed concern about the country’s future relations with neighboring states. The strategically located nation borders Ethiopia and Somalia, both of which exerted strong influence over local politics.
At the time, Djibouti’s population was sharply divided. Many Afars supported continued ties with France, while the Issa community maintained close cultural and political connections with Somalia. These divisions fueled unrest and placed Bourhan at the center of an increasingly volatile political landscape.
Omar Kheire, a longtime political associate, told the BBC that Bourhan was repeatedly targeted during the independence struggle because of his leadership of the French-established administration.
“He was not targeted because of who he was personally, but because of the political struggle of that period,” Kheire said.
Bourhan survived an assassination attempt in 1968, when attackers reportedly planned to kill him at a restaurant where he was expected to dine. The plot failed, but threats against his life continued.
“He was pursued almost daily. There was always an effort to find an opportunity to harm him,” Kheire said.
Born in 1934 in the eastern coastal city of Tadjoura, Bourhan came from a prominent family of mixed Afar and Somali heritage. His grandmother was a Somali from the historic port town of Zeila.
He began his career in the early 1950s as a schoolteacher before becoming active in youth organizing and later leading a Somali youth association.
His entry into formal politics came while he was attached to the court of the sultan of Tadjoura, where he met Mahmoud Harbi, a leading nationalist figure and vice president of the Governing Council of French Somaliland during World War II.
Bourhan later joined the territorial council and supported Harbi’s push for independence. French authorities exiled Harbi to Cairo, where he died two years later in a plane crash under circumstances that were never fully explained.
After Djibouti gained independence in 1977, Bourhan withdrew from political life and turned to business, remaining largely out of the public spotlight.
Those who knew him later in life described him as calm and approachable.
“He was a refined and courteous man,” Kheire said. “He had a strong personality and good character.”
Ali Aref Bourhan’s death marks the end of a defining chapter in Djibouti’s modern history, shaped by colonial rule, political struggle and the foundations of statehood.
* With files from the BBC Somali Service