The stimulant is widely used in some countries. But in America, it has resulted in 44 arrests. By Sam Howe Verhovek, Times Staff Writer August 22, 2006 SEATTLE — It is a stimulant and social elixir widely used in East Africa and the Arabian Peninsula, and it is one with more than 40 street names in this country, including khat, chat, gat, qat, African salad, Abyssinian tea and Somali tea. But, as federal drug guidelines put it: "There is no legitimate use for khat in the United States." ADVERTISEMENT With that stark reminder, federal agents arrested 14 members of Seattle's Somali community recently, part of what the Drug Enforcement Administration hailed as a "coordinated takedown" of a 44-person trafficking ring that had smuggled about 25 tons of khat — with an estimated street value of $10 million — from Africa into U.S. cities. The cases may unwind as clear violations of U.S. drug laws, but among Somali immigrants here and elsewhere, reaction has been more complicated. Many insist that the laws are based on a misunderstanding of the role of khat — generally pronounced "cot," and either chewed or brewed like a tea — in their society. "It is not a drug that makes people crazy or aggressive," said Ali Abdirazak, 48, a Somali American school counselor, who said the arrests were "unfortunate." Many members of the Somali community view the stimulant as more akin to a strong cup of coffee than a dangerous menace, Abdirazak said. One court-appointed lawyer said he was considering a "cultural defense" for his client, a man arrested in Seattle. As the lawyer, Terry Kellogg, put it: "Khat is more like caffeine than anything else. If these defendants wind up in prison, then so should Howard Schultz," the chairman of Starbucks. Federal authorities say the couriers, middlemen and street sellers involved in the khat trade were all engaged in clearly illegal activities, with proceeds laundered and at least one transaction marked by a death threat from the dealer. In several cases, packages of khat for "John Smith," "John Kerry" and other obviously fictitious recipients were sent via delivery services to the Somali men involved in the operation, according to an affidavit in the case. One defendant, employed at the United Nations, allegedly used diplomatic pouches to smuggle the plant into this country. But Omar Jamal, executive director of the Somali Justice Advocacy Center in St. Paul, Minn., described the recent arrests as "a classic cultural clash" in which, he said, some defendants told him they did not know they were breaking the law. "Their way of looking at it, where they are coming from, is that khat has been around for a very, very long time," Jamal said in a telephone interview. "So, it is shock and disbelief to hear that this is illegal." Jamal noted that khat is not banned in England, Germany, Holland and other European countries. Ignorance of the law is, of course, a risky line of defense before any jury. Federal authorities are clearly skeptical that anyone involved in the surreptitious buying and selling of khat could have thought they were acting legally. "These defendants were looking to make easy money at the expense of their fellow immigrants," said John McKay, the U.S. attorney in Seattle. "We will not let their greed shatter the hopes and dreams of other hard-working immigrant families who have fled the chaos of their homeland." The Minneapolis-St. Paul area is home to a large Somali immigrant population and 14 of the men arrested in the crackdown. Other suspects were arrested in New York, Boston and Columbus, Ohio, as well as Seattle. In announcing the arrests, John P. Gilbride, the special agent in charge of the DEA's New York office, described khat as "highly addictive and devastating" to the people who use it. Federal drug guidelines say khat contains a psychoactive ingredient, cathinone, that is chemically similar to amphetamine. Many Somalis say khat creates only a mild buzz that is not dangerous and, unlike alcohol, does not impair judgment or motor skills. Used in moderation, they say, it stimulates or enhances conversation. In some cases, they say, people use it as they do caffeine — to stay awake. None of the defendants in the recent crackdown has spoken publicly, and some leaders in Seattle's Somali community were careful to say that although use of the stimulant was acceptable in their native country, they were not advocating that U.S. laws be flouted. "I cannot agree that the law can be broken just because people are free to use khat back where they came from," said Mohamed Abdi, the president of Somali Community Services of Seattle, at one of the group's recent Saturday lunches. "But I do know that many people feel khat is not understood in this country at all."

I never being to a Somali wedding, but i might check it out now.

thanks for that.

This is fact: South Korea can’t have neither North Korea military might, nor their weapons.

Can anyone provide a picture of the plane landing in Somali?

i was going to marry my girlfriend, but mum said she not having it

its original context on the page: www.pbase.com/bmcmorrow/image/36378684 pictures of somalia taken from space.

Most Somalis mixes Deen and culture.

They all seem irresistible to you and they don’t pay you any attention to you, it must be tough for you.

Ibtisam, I know for a fact that’s not how you see them. Stop kidding yourself.

To be honest I’ven‘t watched any programmes on channel 4 for the past two months, because everything I switch it to channel 4 to check what’s on, there’s BB on.

Have you asked her ... the great question that what does she want: What does a Somali girl want? She wants from birth to age 18 she needs good parents. From 18 to 35 she needs good looks. From 35 to 55 she needs a good personality and good children. From 55 on, she needs good cash and husband.

Appendix 4: The Somali Ethnic Group and Clan SystemMost of this oral history only goes back to the origins of the Somali ethnic group, about 800 years ago. One could propose the hypothesis that the ... www.civicwebs.com/cwvlib/africa/ somalia/1995/reunification/appendix_4.htm - 98k Click 1987, and then read the letter of death.

Somali Ethnic Group Figure A-4-2 illustrates the two larger chains that define the Somali ethnic group. One is from the Hamitic Kingdom of Cush and the the other is from Semitic Arab settlers. They merged together to create the Somali ethnic group. Genetically and culturally, the older Cushitic chain is the dominant force. The Somali language comes from this chain. In terms of clan structure and religion, the more recent chain from about 4 Arab settlers may be the dominant force. However, the Islamic religion was present before these clans originated and both the clan structure and other traditions are very similar to those of the Oramo ethnic group that lived there earlier. There is a very new genetic technique, based upon comparing the DNA molecules in human mitichondria, that enables geneticists to estimate the number of generations back when two people had a common mother. Using this technique, it should now be possible, as an example, to determine how closely the different Cushitic ethnic groups are related to each other. This technique may be very useful in closing the gap from about 330 AD until about 1200 AD, where we know very little about how the Cushitic people evolved.116 Concerning religion, these 4 Arab settlers, as well as others in the region at that time, were Sunni Moslems belonging to the Kadirieh sect. Practically all Somalis are Moslems today. Around the end of the last century, the Sudanese Mohamed Salih founded the Salihiya sect. There may be parallels between the role of this sect in Islam and the reformist roles of Martin Luther and John Calvin in Christianity. The Somali, Sayid Mohamed Abdullah Hassan, known in Great Britain as the "Mad Mullah" for fighting against British colonialism, was converted to this sect in Mecca by Mohamed Salih and then brought this reformist Islamic sect to Somalia in 1895, where it has many followers today.117 However, the nomadic culture of the Cushites evolved in this region over a much longer period of time, in equilibrium with the local ecology. Therefore, the cultural and economic patterns were dominated by this historical background. The Somali people kept their original Cushitic language, although Arabic became their defacto written language for religious matters. Since the Somali language was not a written language until about 1972, the Somali people developed an "oral tradition and "oral history". They preserved legends and history as both narratives and poems that they passed down from generation to generation orally. Particularly the poems, which are memorized word-for-word, transfer historical information from one generation to the next with a minimal loss or distortion of information. With the introduction of the new option of writing in their own language, there was much literary activity after 1972. Part of this activity consisted of documenting the existing oral history, part consisted of creatively modifying this history in new forms, and part consisted of glorification of the socialist revolution of General Barre, with some parallels to art under Mao in China.118 Most of this oral history only goes back to the origins of the Somali ethnic group, about 800 years ago. One could propose the hypothesis that the introduction of the Islamic religion even earlier placed a greater emphasis upon history after the arrival of Islam than the culture and history within the framework of other earlier religions. This hypothesis is based upon the more recent experience, where the conversion of Black Africa to Christianity by missionaries in the last 2 centuries was accompanied by Christian schools that taught European history while neglecting or de-emphasizing traditional local history. A.4.3 The Clan Structure of the Somali People Many of the ethnic groups of Northeastern Africa and Arabia have clan structures, where membership in a clan is based upon having the same male ancestors. They are family trees of male descendants, that generally do not consider the roles of women, unless a man has more than one wife and there is a distinction between his sons by different wives. Much of the early chapters of the Christian Holy Bible is devoted to documenting such early Jewish clan structures. However, this does not mean that women have no importance in such male hierarchies. Rather, there are subtle roles for women, that differ in the clan structures from one ethnic group to another ethnic group. As one example, there are exogan ethnic groups, such as the Hadjerai, who are farmers in the mountains of Tschad. Among the Hadjerais, it is forbidden for a man to marry a woman from his own clan. He may marry several women, but the process is complex. He has to serve practically as the slave of each father-in-law for several years as was also practiced by the Jewish people in ancient times.119 Therefore most men have only one wife. Although his wife joins him in living among his clan, she remains a member of her original clan and does not join the clan of her husband -- and her children.120 Among the Somali clans, a man is free to marry a member of his own clan or subclan, a member of any other clan or subclan, or a non-Somali. As Moslems, Somali men are allowed to be married up to a maximum of 4 wives at one time, but economic conditions seldom allow them to have more than 1 or 2 wives at one time. When a man dies, a brother sometimes marries the widow as a part of assuring social security within the extended family. Intermarriage among clans and subclans also has important political functions. When a small group from one clan moves into a territory dominated by another clan, it is prudent for their men to marry women from the larger clan, and vice versa, in order achieve peaceful relations. There are many similarities to the way that the royal families in Europe intermarried for several hundred years, more out of political reasons than simple love. The importance of a given clan or subclan depends more upon the size of the clan or subclan and its wealth, usually measured by the number of animals that it owns, rather than the age of the clan or position of the founding father in the Somali family hierarchy. Small clans may effectively merge with larger clans for survival and small clans also often live for long periods of time interspersed within a larger clan, as if they were members of that clan.

If, the Islamic courts managed to defeat the warlords in three months, then why can't they defeat few foreigners?