General Ismail Qasim Naji (Somali: Ismaaciil Qaasim Naaji, Arabic: إسماعيل قاسم ناجي) (born December 17, 1969) in Borama, Somalia[1] was the chief of staff of the Transitional Federal Government (TFG) of Somalia and currently the Somali ambassador in Oman.
Before the formation of the TFG, he also commanded the army of the predecessor Transitional National Government (TNG) of Somalia between 2002 and 2004.
[4] In October 2005, a report by the UN Monitoring group quoted Gen. Naji as having accepted a large shipment of goods from Yemen in contravention of UN sanctions on arms imports, including 5,000 weapons, hand grenades and antipersonnel mines.
[6] On January 17, 2007, Gen. Naji reported what was believed to be Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed's briefcase, filled with documents, was recovered by government forces from a jungle hideout in southwestern Somalia[7] as conflicting reports emerged the ICU leader had been arrested near the Dadaab refugee camp in the Garissa district of Kenya.
[9] The same day he was dismissed as army chief-of-staff (February 10, 2007), Prime Minister Ali Mohamed Ghedi appointed Ismael Qasim Naji to the position of Ambassador to Oman.