Siad Barre Interview | Somalian President Requests More US Aid | Ogaden War | February 1978

February 1978. Footage of an interview with President Siad Barre of Somalia during the conflict with Ethiopia over the Ogaden Region. Barre wanted more Western aid because of the military aid and assistance being given to the Ethiopian regime led by Colonel Mengistu Haile Mariam. The interviewer was John Snow of ITN. Source: ITN News via Getty Images. NB. General Siad Barre (1919-1995) served as the Head of State of Somalia from 1969, when he overthrew a civilian government, to 1991. He joined Police Force in 1941 and in 1950 was sent to an Italian Military Academy. By 1959 he was a Colonel and Deputy Commander of the Army. Barre led a junta known as the Supreme Revolutionary Council, which renamed the country the Somali Democratic Republic. Barre’s government was an ideologically Marxist-Leninist one which embarked on a 3-year programme of national development after overthrowing the civilian government which had been led by the late President Abdirashid Ali Shermarke. Shermarke had been assassinat