but one of his earlier nominees. However, the proposed new cabinet contained three additional ministerial positions filled by men chosen to mollify opposition factions. The new cabinet was approved with the support of all but a handful of SYL National Assembly members. Hussein remained in office until the presidential elections of June 1967. The 1967 presidential elections, conducted by a secret poll of National Assembly members, pitted former prime minister Shermarke against Osman. Again the central issue was moderation versus militancy on the pan-Somali question. Osman, through Hussein, had stressed priority for internal development. Shermarke, who had served as prime minister when pan-Somalism was at its height, was elected president of the republic. Greater Somalia Due to the Somali government's vision of uniting Somali-inhabited territories, the administration was suspected of giving aid and support to the irredentist movements in the Ogaden region in Ethiopia, the Northern Frontier District of northeastern Kenya, and French Somaliland. Even though Hussein favoured the idea of Greater Somalia, he persistently denied reports that his government was involved in support. He stated his policy was to pursue the issue constitutional and peaceful means. He called for United Nations plebiscites in the Somali-inhabited areas outside the republic and asked for the Organization of African Unity to send fact-finding commissions to the areas to determine what the Somali inhabitants of these disputed areas desired. Neither organization responded to his calls but the Organization of African Unity passed a resolution favouring the retention of existing boundaries inherited from the European colonial powers throughout Africa. Later years Immediately after the 1969 Somali coup d'état that overthrew the civilian government, Hussein became a political prisoner and remained in detention from 1969 to April 1973. In 1974, he was appointed as Somalia's representative to the United Nations in 1974, and he held that position until 1979. During the Somali civil war, Hussein was called on several times to help reconcile the warring parties. On May 6, 2001, an effort by the Transitional National Government (TNG) to create the National Commission for Reconciliation and Property Settlement (NCRPS), a 25-member working body, was stalled when Abdirizak Haji Hussein was named as its chief. The Somalia Reconciliation and Restoration Council (SRRC) and Puntland's then leadership opposed the bid. On July 25, 2001, Hussein resigned from the post. Death and legacy Hussein died of pneumonia on 31 January 2014 in Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States, after being