Ato was one of the organizers of the resistance inside Muqdisho during the assault against Siyaad in 1989. Responsible for several bombings and other acts which annoyed the regime.Started working for foreign oil companies as an errand boy at age 9 when his father died.
At age 13 was operating heavy equipment.
When the oil companies needed to reduce their exposure in Somalia in the 60s, Ato was allowed to purchase the equipment which he then leased back to the oil companies. He made millions. He also made money contracting for USAID.
Thrown in jail by Siyaad Barre four times.
Ato was one of the organizers of the resistance inside Muqdisho during the assault against Siyaad in 1989. Responsible for several bombings and other acts which annoyed the regime.
Became Aydiid's chief financial backer during the coup and the civil war. He was behind the dismantling and sale of many public enterprises, from monuments to factories, in order to finance the war.
Ato also profitted from UNOSOM and UN contracts.
He even made money selling arms to Ali Mahdi and then confidently declared that it didn't matter because he could just seize them back.
Arrested by the Americans in 1993 after his vehicle was bombed. Still, he remains very pro American and "American" in his attitude. After four months in jail became a changed man. He had a falling out with Aydiid in early 1994 but kept it quiet.
When it became apparent in late 1994 that UNOSOM was leaving (and Ato's business would dry up) he tried unsuccessfully to convince Aydiid to moderate his views. Aydiid insisted on being president and prime minister. Ato asked that Abdullahi Yusuf be named prime minister.
In February, 1995 his conflict with Aydiid came into the open. A meeting of the Sa'ad elders backed Ato over Aydiid. Ato also began to reach out to Ali Mahdi, meeting with him in February. He also forged an alliance with Ali Mahdi ally Ali Ugaas. When the UN pulled out in March, 1995. Ato sent some of his 160 technicals to prevent Aydiid from seizing the port and airport. The two former allies battled for several hours outside the gates of the airport.
The cynical view is that Ato changed his mind for business reasons. With the UN gone, he needs peace to make money. With UNOSOM there, he was able to profit from the war.
From Wire Reports: June 12-15, 1995
Mohamed Farah Aideed, the Somali warlord ousted in a party coup over the weekend, is a ruthless fighter who humbled dictator Mohamed Siad Barre and later humiliated U.S. forces in urban warfare.
To his Somali followers he is a savior and hero, the man whose rag-tag army took on the might of "imperialist" America.
To the United Nations, he is a criminal and a terrorist whose guerrillas killed U.N. peacekeepers who were only trying to restore law and order in his broken land.
A vote against 60-year-old Aideed was taken Sunday at a congress in Mogadishu of the United Somali Congress-Somali National Alliance (USC-SNA), called by his opponents within the group.
Aideed was replaced by former ally and financier Osman Hassan Ali Atto, who attacked the warlord for frustrating efforts to rebuild Somalia and urged the United Nations and aid agencies to return and help the broken nation in the Horn of Africa.
"We will give them a guarantee of security," Osman Atto told the 2,000-member congress in a Mogadishu district known as Bosnia. There was no immediate comment from U.N. officials.
Osman Atto said Aideed's mandate as chairman expired more than a year ago. But Aideed still has significant support among his Habre Gedir clan, split between him and his challenger.
Somali warlord Ali Mahdi Mohamed on Monday welcomed the election by dissidents of wealthy businessman Osman Hassan Ali "Atto" as chairman of the USC/SNA grouping previously headed by his rival General Mohamed Farah Aidid.
But it was too early Monday to count Aidid out despite his loss of control over the United Somali Congress/Somali National Alliance.
He told USC/SNA members who remain loyal to him that a government of national unity would be established soon by an ongoing conference in south Mogadishu.
Ali Mahdi told journalists his Somali Salvation Alliance (SSA) would recognise the Osman Atto USC/SNA factions and pay them the highest respect "because they will automatically contribute positively toward future Somali politics."
"I don't see any reason why we would waste our time and effort with General Aidid any more," Ali Mahdi said of his bitter rival.
"I would like to make General Aideed aware of not resorting to force," Osman Hassan Ali Atto said in Mogadishu late on Tuesday.
A meeting declaring itself to represent Aideed's own Habre Gedir militia, the United Somali Congress-Somali National Alliance, has ousted him from the leadership. The meeting was held at Osman Atto's own instigation.
Aideed still has control of a short wave radio station in the city, which he used to condemn the "traitors" who had announced his removal. The radio said any meeting without the attendance of Aideed, the chairman of the militia, was illegal.
Osman Atto, a businessman who got rich in oil exploration before Somalia collapsed into anarchy in 1991, financed Aideed through the clan wars and the feud against American-led U.N. forces in 1993.
He was even captured by crack U.S. Ranger forces and imprisoned by the U.N. on an island during the hunt for Aideed, who had been accused of ordering the murder of peacekeepers.
But Osman Atto grew increasingly estranged from Aideed after his release. Weeks before the U.N. completely evacuated in early March, he split completely and accused his former godfather figure of pitting the Habre Gedir clan against the rest of Somalia and the world.
At a press conference in Mogadishu on Tuesday, Osman Atto denied allegations that he had been paid $ 30 million by the United States to hold off from attacking the withdrawing foreign troops.
Osman Atto has now appealed for the United Nations to return to Mogadishu and he has called for reconciliation talks with other clans.