This is very important step for Somalia. The important step for Somalia is the recognition of US of Somalia as a legitimate government and the high level reception Somalia's dignitaries received.

^^Of course. Puntland is the center of Somalia's political universe On January 25th, we expect some targeted remarks from the 'Imaam', that is when you will see the Abwaans of this world working overtime to respond .

^^ :D Of course. Koofiyadu sow tii Baraawe maaha

NGONGE did not get the memo about Imaam's temporary relocation to Boosaaso. He camped near the old harbor, leading not only prayers but also giving lectures on the concept of governance. His last sermon before he flew to Jabbuuti was, Surat Al-aadiyaat; Vanquishing Opponents by sheer silence in both local and national levels.

lol@Darwish Foundation in pland Perhaps I am bit traditional with respect to assessing the integrity of organizations like this one. I start with the individuals leading it ala jarhe wa ta'dil

An organization led by Aynte, Hashi, and Ms Asha Elmi does not promise much in national sense. But it signifies a step in the right direction in so far as Mogadishu's local politics is concern.

That will be uncalled for. I have not heard of such a protest being organized.

Xaaji Xunjuf;906427 wrote: lol@ Xiinfaniin Somaliland is a national identity walo dhasha Somaliland either you are one or you are not. The O community are my people the days we used to fight over water wells and camels is over its 2013 waryaa wakthiga la soco. Only if the political narrative that you constantly feed on which informs your views would allow you to move on and accept 2013 reality .

Xaaji Xunjuf is still pissed of particular clans i.e. O clan. He gives away the script when he talks about Somaliland progressing beyond clan identification

Daqane, Hassan is the president for all but on the Kismayo issue he really set himself up for a spectacular political failure. No one forced him to speak so early in the game against an initiative that makes a lot of political and security sense for the locals as well as for unity of Somalia as a federal state. He could have mitigated the obvious shortcomings of the Kismayo initiative without making it a national issue. The most unforgivable of all is his attempt to make a distinction without a difference by singling Kenya out from the AMISOM arrangement. The checkmate in this case is so deserved. Hassan though is the president of Somalia, and he still has a lot of time to right things and reverse the bad start.

Raxanreeb is a tabloid outlet, never the source of credible reporting. Oromos coming to Somalia is a strategic asset. they will learn the language, and most likely convert to Islam (if they are not already Muslims). Few decades down the road, they may even become part of the major clans as it is happening in Bay and Bakool as we speak, adding new shades to the contours of our clans . Who knows Xaaji Xunjuf's Mother clan will get a new addition as a result of Oromo mirgration

Xaaji Xunjuf's negative sentiment against O people is understandable. Abdi Iley, the leader of Og-aden region has exacted some restrictions on the clan of Faysal Waraabe, who thought during the political vacuum days his cousins were closer to the Ethiopia than they were to Mogadishu. The tables are now reversed, and good Xaaji Xunjuf is now feeling the heat from Iley boys. So his sentiment is along those lines -- a bit small but still valid. My take on this is the rise of this clan will be a positive development and will bring prosperity to all Somali lands including those with two flags in Hargeysa

^^You mistake analysis to 'ammaan' Up your game waryaa . Midda kale , hadda xaggee kugu tiriyaa, adoo Kismayo diidan baan ku ogaaye ?

To the admin: pardon the usage of Og-aadeen term. This is a nation, not a qabiil. In the jurisprudence, there is a mark for water volume and when it reaches, it becomes immune to contamination (najjaasah). Similarly , this community is etimated to be around 7 million , in that sense, speaking of them is akin to speaking of Republic of Central Africa. They are no longer clan. EDIT: XX, and the new script are missing the point. I await those on the fora with more intellectual muscle.

To Professor Abtigiis, ...... ...... Hebloo gabanteed ah Hilowna basteeda Malaa u han weynna Karaamadan hiirta Ku soo hormanaysa Hilmaanina weydey Wadaadka hoggiisa Ka soo hangallaystay Siduu ugu hiishey Ayaa tidhi “hooyo Muxuu horta sheekhu Inoo yahay haybta”? Waxay tidhi “heedhe Hibooy ratigeennu Markuu hingan waayo Ayaan huriwaaga Haleel cuskadaaye Habeen ma wadaagno Haddaan magaciisa Dantaydu higgaadin Ma soo hadal qaado” Injecting elders talk into a dying forum To paraphrase Ibn Khaldoun, the most serious error is to ignore the basic laws governing the transformation of human society. It is quite remarkable that politicians from the aforementioned Somali clan feature prominently in the cabinets of the three most important countries in the Horn, namely Ethiopia, Kenya and Somalia. What is more important is the convergence of interest among various players in the large clan, shaping the contours of the regional politics. Kismayo is a case in point. When Professor Gandi declared Kismayo as the capital of an Azania state in a Nairobi hotel, most Somali political observers dismissed him as a bookish professor with no sense of appreciation of the political intricacy of the Jubba region. What most avid followers of Somali politics missed then is how elaborate the Jubba political scheme was structured and how encompassing its design was, interweaving complex geopolitical and national political and economic interests of three Horn countries. Professor Gandi’s Azania declaration was not to be lost in vain, indeed. The political roadmap that emerged soon after was quite marvelous: the road to stability in the Horn region goes through Kismayo. The said stability will be facilitated by Og-aadeen leaders who have direct stake not only in the city but in the stability of Nairobi and Addis as well. Yusuf Hagi, Kenya’s powerful defense minister, and Abdi Iley, the governor of the Somali region in Ethiopia, become, in the perception of many, influential in the deliberations of south Somalia’s stabilization plan. There is no escape from the ever growing presence of the Og-aadeens in the Horn. The Kismayo issue stirred emotions in the south as many especially those in Mogadishu sensed the resurgence of an enemy clan, manifested this time in an Og-aadeen dominance over the affairs of arguably the most prized city in the south. When the new elected president attempted to go against the strong political current of these determined Og-aadeen men, he too quickly realized the depth of their political calculus. In Ethiopia, the Somali president was greeted by Abdi Iley, and two Ethiopian cabinet ministers, all from the resurgent clan. In Kenya, expectedly Yusuf Hagi was among Kenyan leaders in talks with President Hassan during the official state visit. Even Hassan himself managed to bring one Og-aadeen minister along to Nairobi. In regional bodies and organizations, Og-aadeen men are present representing one or more of the three countries. It wasn’t long ago when Og-aadeen polity was characterized by fruitless wars and long running rebel activity in the region. Today, it seems, a new generation of leaders have emerged from this community who are determined to reverse the fortunes of their people to the better. Ethiopia, Kenya, and Somalia seem to have recognized the important nature of the geographical setting of this community. That is why the rise of Og-aadeen is orchestrated by the very countries that were historically viewed as perpetrators of deliberate oppressions, sometimes in a large scale, against Og-aadeens. Obviously such transformation will engender opposition and resistance from other communities in the political theatres Og-aadeens are expected to dominate. The first bullets of this resistance are fired in Mogadishu. Al though President Hassan has shown an intention to defuse the Kismayo standoff, the vital political signs of Mogadishu are signaling growing opposition to the Og-aadeen rise in the South, and the political leverage that would inevitably come with it.

Daqane and Oba, dont get me wrong for I do appreciate the cultural difference of this forced alliance between Unuka and Abwaan's community. Unuka is urbanate and has a clan majesty, while Abwaan's are rooted deeply in nomadic life. But my initial observation were never about anthropological observation, it was a mere commentary of the emerging political convergence of the two communities after twenty years of cohabitation . Daqane's resolve to have a leg in the Kismayo equation though admirable is , as good Hassan found out, a bit late at this point of time. The Knights, in the 'Shax' parlance, are trained on the vulnerable king; few moves away from declaring a political checkmate .

^^One should be forgiven if one could not discern the difference between Abwaan's economic migrants and Oba's unuka political objectives .

LOL@NGONGE Soomaali meel u roon ma leh. Kii wax aqriyana ma waxbaa laga sheegayaa. EDIT: Waa tii NGONGE, the president should read: The Man with Two Flags, The Hargeysa Dilemma by STOIC

Ninkii socdaa, turaanturrooda Kismayo is moving forward, Mogadishu elders need to understand that reality and move on.

Spain’s Chinese Immigrants Thrive in Tough Economy By DAN BILEFSKY BARCELONA, Spain — When Jiajia Wang’s parents first moved to Barcelona from China in the 1990s, they had no working papers and spoke no Spanish. The family ate eggs to survive. Her mother and father worked 12-hour days at a Chinese restaurant. After five years, they bought a restaurant of their own with money borrowed from relatives, interest-free. She and her brother washed the dishes. Her parents slept on a mattress in the bathroom of their cramped apartment so that the children could study at night in the other room. Today, while Spanish youth unemployment hovers around 50 percent, Ms. Wang, 24, who studied economics at Harvard on a one-year fellowship, juggles four jobs: teaching Mandarin, advising Chinese investors in Spain, running a publishing house and writing romantic novels. She sends home €1,000, or about $1,300, a month to support her parents, who retired last year. Her family’s story is telling of the ways many of Spain’s 170,000 Chinese immigrants have managed not only to weather a tough economy but even to thrive, aided by intense labor and a strong Confucian model of family loyalty, while joblessness and cuts to government services have left other Spaniards struggling. “The Chinese family is less dependent on the government because the family is the welfare state, the bank and social services, all wrapped in one,” Ms. Wang said. “For Chinese people who lived through hardship back home,” she added, “working 16-hour days is nothing, and that has made us more resilient during the crisis.” The Spanish government itself seems to have recognized the importance of this success. So determined is it to attract Chinese immigrants that in November it passed a law offering residency permits to foreigners who buy homes worth more than €160,000, with the specific aim of drawing Chinese and Russian investment, lawmakers said. As hard-hit Spaniards struggle to keep both their jobs and their homes, Spain’s Chinese immigrants in Barcelona and Madrid are starting businesses and buying distressed properties from the bursting of Spain’s housing bubble. Of the 8,613 foreigners who started businesses in the past 10 months, 30 percent, or 2,569 were Chinese, according to the National Federation of Self-Employed Workers. InfoChina Gestión, a real estate company based in Madrid that focuses on Chinese investors, said the number of houses sold for €70,000 to €100,000 to Chinese nearly doubled last year, to 813. Mr. House, a real estate company in Madrid, said it was selling at least 10 houses a month to Chinese, a majority of whom paid at least 80 percent in cash. The types of work many Chinese immigrants gravitate toward helps explain their success as much as their work ethic. In a time of economic crisis, ubiquitous low-margin Chinese-owned bazaars, hairdressers and supermarkets have become a lure for cost-conscious Spanish consumers. “If it wasn’t for the Chinese shops, it would be harder to scrape by,” said Ester Maduerga, 30, a saleswoman at a sports shoe store, as she scanned the notepads, leather belts and plastic alligators at One Hundred and More, a Chinese-owned bazaar here. Xi Li He, 26, the bazaar’s manager and cashier, said the business was flourishing, in part because he had reduced prices by importing inexpensive goods from China. When Mr. Xi, fresh from business school, tried to take a job at a large Spanish retailer, he said his mother doubled his salary. That kind of success by Chinese immigrants has provided a beachhead of sorts for further investment from China that has pumped some life into an otherwise moribund Spanish economy. Before Spain’s crisis exploded in 2008, Chinese foreign investment in Spain was negligible. By last year, it had grown to €70 million, according to ICEX, a government investment agency. Ivana Casaburi, a professor of international marketing at Esade business school in Barcelona, said Chinese companies were being drawn to Spain because it offered a low-cost gateway to the European Union, the world’s biggest trading bloc. Isla Ramos Chaves, an executive at the Chinese computer maker Lenovo, said that even with the crisis, Spain — the fourth-largest economy in the euro zone — remained a market that Chinese companies were eager to tap. She added that Chinese multinationals in Spain were proving robust, in part because they were anchored by a huge domestic market back home. Executives at Haier, the Chinese-owned appliance maker, said the economic crisis, rather than being a deterrent, had provided an opportunity, as Spaniards were willing to consider competitively priced washing machines and air-conditioners, even if their brands were less well known. “I am not sure we would have been as successful if the market was stable and growing,” said Santiago Belenguer, the general manager of Haier’s Spanish operations. The success of Chinese newcomers to Spain has not spawned the kind of anti-immigrant backlash seen in some hard-pressed parts of Europe like Greece. Immigration experts said Spain’s relatively welcoming attitude reflected its new openness after the repression of the Franco years, when the country was a nation of emigration. Since the crisis, the return of thousands of Latin American immigrants to their home countries from Spain has also relieved pressure on the work force. That does not mean everyone has championed the success of the Chinese, and some complain of stereotyping and being targeted by law enforcement. In October, the police arrested 80 people in a nationwide crackdown on Chinese criminal gangs engaged in money-laundering and tax evasion. The police said the low price of Chinese products was being abetted by some importers not declaring shipments from China, thereby avoiding taxes. Here in Barcelona, José Rodríguez, the owner of A Porta Galega, a traditional tapas cafe in the hip neighborhood of Eixample, said cut-rate prices for everything from beer to shampoo at Chinese-owned shops made it impossible for Spaniards to compete. At least a dozen Chinese-owned tapas bars are scattered along his block. Still, he added, he would sell his own restaurant to Chinese buyers, “for the right price.

^^That is very much the truth. It has been teh case that Somalis have had a great deal of difficulty to follow a simple plan

Maashaa Allaah, tahniyad baan leennahay. And Allaah knows that I prayed for this day when our Serenity joins our club Wiil iyo Caano

Che, Faroole is camping at Boosaaso, there is no real issues in Puntland . This manufactured crisis lacks traction as such. The multi party approach resonates with the average people. It is a common sense approach, it enjoys a lot support. Galkacyo demo is a clear example of Puntland political maturityl; reer Mudug with 40 years experience with guns opted out to burning tires

^^Not reallly. They made an unforced mistake to come out against the effort so early without engaging the locals. They are now doing what they should've done few months ago. But better late than never . The other side should welcome the president in a manner befiting the leader of the country.

Waryaa Che, are you a paid supporter of Siilaanyo these days ? . Do allow other piont of views to be heard in SOL fora , which means you will have to stop subjecting your rigorous examination to AfricaOwn's expressed opposition to all things Siilaanyo...