^^Castro, I would sadly say yes…and it’s not without a cause. While some folks celebrate for the short-term tfg successes, I can’t help but wonder how deeper our conflict has gotten. Our sovereignty has been brutally invaded…waa wado halaaq mareen adeer; we are no longer virgins as it were and our innocence is now broken. If tanks were led to the capital, they sure can be led to Hargeysa and Boosaaso….

^^You are asking trouble wallee Castrow! I can see Oodweyne preparing one of his lengthy write-ups. We’ll soon be flooded with important quotes and historical clichés…all bold in a sea of regular fonts…

Originally posted by Abaadir: sheegi mahayo. Kismaayo maxaa ku geeyey in aad dhahdaan ka baqayaa. LOL ^^ @sheegi maayo. OK. You see magaaladda runtii muddo horaa iigu danbaysay Abaadirow. Laakiin markaan soo noqdo wallee war baa ku haystaa ! Intaad hadda kasoo orodo Xagar-sarara-weyn baad rabtaa adoo xuurtaysan oon weli nasan inaad cariishkayga meesha ka riixato... On a serious note, I think Barre’s remnants and the old man’s junior lieutenants will be restrained by the traditional Waamo culture...but it will sadly take time! In the meantime let everyone who can invest in Kismayo’s real state. I am sure when peace arrives it will appreciate and grow in value in many folds, and people will find no difficult living side by side in peace with dignity...

^^Xaggee ku dhalatay ?

^^^Because it’s quite a assertion…it’s very hard to come up a number in any Somali city! I understand what Abaadir is getting at. He probably meant to say reer Gedo aren’t what they used to be population wise in Kismayo---and that’s a legitimate claim. But one needs not to hype and throw around hard-to-prove stats to make a point… Jimcaale, perhaps you’ve observed a trend there! ps.. would you please tell good Che that you are the son of the jewel itself . pps: Originally posted by Che-Guevara: That's classic Xiin. ^^Haddaadan is yeel-yeelayn waxaa qoroo dhan ban classic ah adeer

Originally posted by Abaadir: ....70% or more people live in Kismaayo today hail from Gedo... Not that I am interested in Kismayo squabbles, but I couldn’t resist to ask you how did you come up with this demographic breakdown? Because that’s very hard to ignore in the clan oriented political calculus! And if that were true, they would have walked away with the mayoral and gubernatorial slots uncontested... Also on the city growth. …your assertion runs contrary to what close relatives of mine report. The city has been stagnant and was afflicted with unceasing wars. Its entrepreneurial sprit died. Its wealthy sons banished and sent to exile by the civil war. It’s amazing how intelligent people like you present relatively small settlers from own clan as a vast expansion and growth for Kismayo. It reminds me how some folks in Xamar wanted to depict small gains in specific sectors like communication and schooling as an unseen development and economic seachange in Mogadishu… Needlessly to say we constantly get flooded with similar boastings about other regions.. But Kismayo is particularly in ruins,and it would be quite a stretch for one to sugarcoat the harsh reality of its colossal destruction. Surely there are new settlers with a marked political ambition, but lets not present our civil war misfortunes (mass exodus, destruction of properties and farms…etc) as a progress.

^^^ @Abaadir. Raggeedi wallaahi! Adeer nimanku rag weeye. Car iyo wir bay taagantahay. Kii libiqsada la arkee!

^^In that case, it may be relatively effective as it slightly compensates American Empire for the financial losses it accrued in the Iraq project. But again I was talking about poor Saudi’s prespective…they lose twice (pay a fortune for something that's ridiculously ineffective).

^^Welcome back yaa Faarax. It’s not only a drastic measure, but it’s also ineffective saaxiib!

Kismayo,Kismayo, Kismayo! Ismaandhaaf. Kibir. Han been ah. Tar-tan qabiil. Intaas baa isku biirsatay. Bal si dheh! Ina Keenadiid diagnosed some of Somalia's political ills long time ago: Laandheere gob ahaan jiroo gocoshadeed hayso Iyo kii ka gaabnaan jiroo maanta garab jooga Gedda kaasi yahay baa kan kale gaar isleeyahay'e Labadaa garaad ee gudboon yaw garnaqi doona ?

I am beginning to realize that we in the Diaspora give Ethiopia too much credit for the current Somali experience. Ethiopia is America’s hired guns in the region---no less and no more! If you agree with that simple proposition, don’t you think the more we talk about Ethiopia in a imperial terms, the more we allot to it a majesty to which her history and her current power structure does not merit?

true@Nin buka boqol u tali! He was a prominent Somali intellectual...

Adduunyo!

Baashow, Great spirits have always found violent opposition, as Einstein reportedly once said, from mediocrities. The latter cannot understand it, he further explained, when a man does not thoughtlessly submit to hereditary prejudices but honestly and courageously uses his intelligence! The question of Kismayo, as you correctly understood it, is a one of land and settlement---there is no clannish hatred between the contestants of this city. There will be small skirmishes here and there, but in the final analysis the only choice for them is to live together and coexist. But if one tentatively observes this thread, one can’t help but notice the modes operandi of Somalia’s tribal politics clearly coming out.

Dhalankaagu waa luulka iyo dhirahay yaaquu'e Malaa roob la dhaca waad taqaan dhiinka jookha leh'e Dhalankiisa shaygaa gobta ah waad u dhigantaaye'e Dhibic iyo cadceed looshan iyo dheel gu’baad tahay'e Qurux iyo dheg baad leedihiyo dhaabad iyo sees'e, Dherer iyo laf baad leedihiyo dhaygag iyo yaab'e Dhebi heeg u baxay baad ka tahay dhoobo jiifyada'e Dhul fog baad ka laacdaa sidii dheenta laalida'e Ruuxii ku dhawraa si buu kuugu dhegayaa'e Dhabeelnimana way kugu jirtaa dhab iyo misaan'e Dhiidhiibsigaagiyo haddana dhuda wanaagaaga'a Dheehaaga maahee shishaad dhuux u leedahaye'e, Dhulka lagama soo qodin dadkee aadan baa dhalay'e Adiga iyo hablaa dhinaca kale waysu dhigantaan'e Dhud qudhaa ka wadda beeranteen dhaadashada guud'e Dhab-dhab baad ku kala leexateen adiyo joog-dheer'e Dhawaweylanka waxa kuugu wacan amase dhoohnaanta Dhab-darrooyinkoodaa qalbigu dhaawac dumayaa'e Dhimir bay ku sareen dabool baali kaa dhigay'e Dhafoor taabadkoodaa qod-qoday dhabannadaadiiye'e Dhaqaaq joogsiggaagiyo wejiga dhaxanta saar-saaran Dhadhansiga dareenkaa ka culus buuro soo dhacay'e Intaad adigu dhiilaysan tahay taydu waa dhicis'e .............................................. Dhanka eebahay xiga adduun wayska dhalanteede'e! Says the Somali poet of this century! Descriptive, yet subtle in its political message, this by far is the most culturally indicting lyrical expression I have ever seen. The choice of Ilhan as a halqabsi could not be more fitting. The flow of the poem is simply beautiful. The narrative is quite accurate. Hadrawi has delivered this one, as he did many times before. And, although it’s a bit late given his age, he has chosen to challenge the most negative aspect of our Somali culture. May he ever remain the literary icon he truly is! Many thanks yaa Ayoub!

^^Brother Duke’s night talks aside, don’t you think, yaa ThePoint , the acts of tfg and Ethiopian forces are criminal in quality? Good intent is a poor defense here, mind you, when you tally the devastation brought upon the city and its residents. It’s clear what happened in Mogadishu is historic in its magnitude and feeble words intended to mask its enormity is just that---feeble!

China evaluates safety after Ethiopia killings Thu Apr 26, 2007 5:46 AM ET BEIJING (Reuters) - China said on Thursday it was evaluating the safety of its workers abroad after an attack in Ethiopia that killed nine of its citizens but would continue encouraging Chinese businesses to operate in Africa. Ethiopian officials have said gunmen belonging to a rebel group, the ****** National Liberation Front (ONLF), on Tuesday killed 65 Ethiopians and the Chinese at an oilfield about 100 km (60 miles) south of the regional capital Jijiga. China has condemned the killings, which underscored the risks of Beijing's eager push for investment and natural resources in Africa, sometimes in risky areas where Western multinationals fear to go. On Thursday, an official spokesman said the attack had prompted a broader review. "In response to these recent incidents concerning the safety of Chinese personnel, the relevant departments are carrying out an assessment of safety abroad," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Liu Jianchao told a news conference. Liu did not give any details of the review or specify what countries or regions it would cover. The exercise would "help Chinese businesses smoothly develop economic and trade cooperation abroad and ensure the safety of Chinese personnel", he said. Ethiopian troops searched on Wednesday for seven Chinese and Ethiopian workers kidnapped in the attack, and the bodies of the dead Chinese were flown to the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa. The Chinese attacked were working for Zhongyuan Petroleum Exploration Bureau, which is based in central China's Henan province and is part of the much larger China Petroleum and Chemical Corp (Sinopec). China has sent foreign and commerce ministry officials and Sinopec representatives to help the rescue efforts and the injured, Liu said. Chinese diplomats were also helping efforts to win the release of the kidnapped, he added. The ONLF, ethnic Somalis fighting for independence since 1984, claimed responsibility for the raid on the Chinese-run oilfield -- one of the worst attacks yet on Beijing's growing presence in Africa. But on its Web site, the ONLF blamed the deaths of a "handful" of Chinese on blasts of munitions hit during a battle they said killed or wounded some 400 Ethiopian troops. Chinese workers have also been kidnapped in Nigeria, and those on oil projects in Sudan work under heavy guard. But China would continue to encourage its workers to operate in Africa and other parts of the world "on the basis of mutual benefit," Liu said. "This policy will not change," he said. Three Chinese engineers were gunned down by separatists in the Pakistan town of Hub in February last year. Three others were killed in a bomb blast in the Pakistan port of Gwadar in 2004.

It's timely and much needed. Carabtu marka sheekhoodu hadlo uunbay lacagta bixiyaan. So at least this will IA generate some cash for the muqaawamah...

^^I think the Tigre and their tools have caused irreversible damage to the city, structurally or otherwise. The suffering of its residents is quite substantial. I don’t even know how that community can recover from this utter destruction that befell upon them. Peace and stability will remain afar, and will forever elude us as long such tools operate in Xamar. It’s unthinkable what they did to these communities. News reports the tfg have even blocked aid shipments on a mere procedural grounds tells you how genocidal these folks are. But Ethiopia will not benefit from this. I think it planted the seeds of nationalism in Somalia and the legacy of Mogadishu war will haunt it for years to come. I may even change the geopolitical structure of the horn after current American admin expires. I mean this will have a lasting impact on the affairs of not Somalis but also on the region as a whole.

Somali conflict crosses borders Ethiopia accuses neighbors of supporting an ethnic Somali rebel group that attacked a Chinese-run oil installation this week, killing 74 people. By Rob Crilly | Correspondent of The Christian Science Monitor and Will Connors | Contributor of The Christian Science Monitor Khartoum, Sudan and Addis Ababa, Ethiopia As the initial shock of this week's rebel raid on a Chinese oil installation in Ethiopia begins to fade, there is a growing realization that Somalia's increasingly brutal insurgency is starting to seep across the Horn of Africa. Tuesday's early morning raid in Ethiopia's remote southeast ****** region near the border with Somalia, left 74 people dead, including nine Chinese oil workers. Ethiopian analysts say the unprecedented scale of the attack, claimed by the ****** National Liberation Front (ONLF), suggested it could only have been carried out with support from Islamists in neighboring Somalia, who were routed by Ethiopian forces in a two-week, Christmas-time invasion. Some analysts see this as an indication that the battle for control of Somalia's capital, Mogadishu is becoming a regional conflict. Mohamed Guyo, an analyst with the Institute of Security Studies in Nairobi, Kenya, says there is a close relationship between Somalia's Islamists and several rebel groups in Ethiopia. He says he expects to see more attacks mounted on Ethiopia as insurgents in Mogadishu look for allies in their struggle against occupying Ethiopian forces. "The [ONLF's] enemy is the Ethiopian government and the enemy of [somalia's Islamists] is the Ethiopian government, so there has been a lot of sharing of resources not just in terms of arms and ammunition, but other things such as sharing media and diplomatic facilities," he says. Hunt for the attackers Ethiopian troops began scouring the area around the oil field Wednesday searching for seven oil workers abducted by the rebels. Witnesses said some 200 gunmen stormed the facility before dawn, killing nine Chinese oil workers and 65 Ethiopians. The clashes took place in Abole, a small town about 75 miles from the regional capital, Jijiga. In a statement released hours after the raid, the ONLF claimed responsibility for the attack and said its commando unit had destroyed the facility. The rebel group justified the attack by saying ethnic Somalis had been cleared from their land and forcefully removed from their homes by Ethiopian troops to make way for the Chinese firm. The statement threatened further action against oil companies that struck deals with the Ethiopian government. "We urge all international oil companies to refrain from entering into agreements with the Ethiopian government .... Oil investments in ****** will result in a similar loss for any firm that believes assurances of security it receives from the Ethiopian government which has never been in effective control of ******." The attack was condemned in the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa. Abdi Wafa, a political science lecturer at Addis Ababa University and an Ethiopian of Somali ethnicity from the same region where the attack took place, said: "It was cowardly. As a Somali and an Ethiopian, I don't feel good about it at all. I don't think the families of the innocent victims will forgive them." Tensions throughout the region have been ratcheted up in the past year following the emergence of Somalia's Islamists. They took control of Mogadishu last June and spread rapidly across the country. They were defeated in December by US-backed Ethiopian troops sent by a government concerned at the rise of Islamic extremism on its doorstep. Ethiopia blames neighbors Ethiopian soldiers are now becoming mired in a battle against the hard-line remnants of the Islamists, who are believed to be receiving aid from Eritrea, a bitter rival of Ethiopia. Yesterday the Ethiopian government was quick to link Eritrea and Somali extremists with the oilfield attack. "The terrorist network that extends from [Eritrea's capital, Asmara] to Somalia and beyond has, once again, attacked and killed civilians," it said in a statement issued by its embassy in London. A report published by the United Nations last year suggests that the ONLF had forged links with Somalia's Islamists and their Eritrean sponsors. The arms-monitoring report revealed that ONLF leaders were frequent visitors to the Somali home of Sheikh Hassan Dahir Aweys in the months before his Islamic Courts Union took control of Mogadishu and much of Somalia last year. ONLF members traveled there to receive training and to collect arms sent from Eritrea, which has a history of supporting Ethiopia's opponents, according to the report published last May. Sheikh Aweys is wanted by the US in connection with Islamic terrorism. David Shinn, a former US ambassador to Ethiopia, said: "In the past ONLF attacks have been significantly more modest than this, so to put together that size of a group – if the reports are accurate – is very surprising. "It might indicate growing unrest in the region generally and particularly in Somalia itself, and that might be giving additional support to the ONLF in the ******." A Western diplomatic source who spoke on condition of anonymity said it was clear that the two elements were starting to think about combining. He said the ONLF would gain outside support while the Somali insurgents had an opportunity to make Ethiopia think twice about their deployment in Somalia. "It's a wake-up call to the Ethiopian forces who are finding themselves overstretched and unable to defend themselves properly, because of their actions in Mogadishu," he said.

Fighting brings fresh misery to Somalia By Mike Pflanz in Nairobi Last Updated: 4:07am BST 26/04/2007 Audio: David Blair on the crisis in the Horn of Africa A new humanitarian crisis is rapidly taking shape in the Horn of Africa where eight days of heavy fighting in Mogadishu, the capital of Somalia, has forced about 350,000 people to flee. Artillery fire has devastated large areas of the city, forcing about one third of its population to leave. Yesterday Mogadishu's main hospital was shelled. The plains around Mogadishu are filled with refugees enduring desperate conditions with little food or shelter. The fighting began when Somalia's internationally recognised government, supported by Ethiopian troops, launched an offensive against insurgents. President Abdullahi Yusuf's regime was installed in Mogadishu after an Ethiopian invasion dislodged Somalia's Islamic extremists from the capital in December. Soon afterwards, insurgents began bombings and hit-and-run attacks. Some were Islamists loyal to the ousted regime. But Mr Yusuf comes from the ***** clan, the traditional rivals of the ****** group, which probably comprises the majority of Mogadishu's population. Clan rivalry of a kind that has torn Somalia for generations probably accounts for most the fighting. Mr Yusuf and his Ethiopian allies have tried to wipe out the insurgency by attacking the ****** areas of the capital with tanks and heavy artillery. More than 320 people are thought have been killed in the past week. An earlier upsurge in fighting in March killed about 1,000 people. Mogadishu residents and aid agencies say the shelling has been indiscriminate. "They are bombing anything that moves," said an aid worker with a British charity. Bodies are being left to rot in the streets. Residents fleeing from the Somali capital of Mogadishu "Everyone we are talking to says this is the worst situation they have seen in 16 years since the last government fell," said Catherine Weibel, from the United Nations High Commission for Refugees. The southern town of Afgooye is packed with 40,000 desperate arrivals from the capital. Large numbers of children have become separated from their families as they fled. Ethiopian and government forces have been accused of disrupting the flow of humanitarian supplies. Ethiopia wants to pull its troops out of Somalia. But without military support, Mr Yusuf's regime would probably collapse, raising the possibility of Islamic extremists returning to power.

Mogadishu becoming "ghost city" as conflict rages Wed Apr 25, 2007 12:39 PM ET By Sahal Abdulle MOGADISHU (Reuters) - The Somali capital Mogadishu is becoming a "ghost city" as residents flee a government offensive to crush Islamist insurgents and clan militia, the United Nations refugee agency said on Wednesday. Shelling and machine-gun fire shook the coastal city for an eighth day, although residents said Wednesday's fighting was lighter than in previous days. Allied Somali-Ethiopian forces are battling Islamist rebels frustrating the interim government's bid to restore central rule in the Horn of Africa nation for the first time in 16 years. The United Nations says nearly 340,000 people have fled the coastal city in recent weeks, many sleeping in the open or under trees. It has warned of a looming health disaster. "Civilians are still fleeing at a very high rate," the U.N. refugee agency said in a statement on Wednesday. "At least half the capital is deserted, slowly turning it into a ghost city." Locals, officials and human rights workers say nearly 300 people have been killed in a week of fighting that has focused on an Islamist stronghold in the north of a city which was once home to at least a million people. Somali media said leaders of the city's dominant ****** clan were meeting Ethiopian army officers to try to find common ground for a ceasefire, but gave no other details. ****** elders could not immediately be reached for comment. "The shelling is still going on, but it is less heavy than yesterday. But it is still too dangerous to venture out," said one resident who asked not to be named. "GOLDEN AGE?" For many Mogadishu residents, accustomed to chaos and violence over the past decade and a half, the fighting contrasts with the relative stability during the Islamists' six-month rule, before they were ousted in a war over the New Year. "This experience dramatically underlines the benefits of the brief period of 'Islamist' authority in southern Somalia which already begins to seem like a 'Golden Age'," Britain's Chatham House think tank said in a report on Wednesday. "The (government) is simply not trusted by the populace, nor does it represent the powerful interest groups in Mogadishu." As the battles intensified on Tuesday, a car bomb killed four civilians in central Mogadishu and a suicide attacker struck at Ethiopian troops at a base in Afgooye, a small farming town on the western outskirts. An Islamist militant group claimed responsibility for both. The group, calling itself the Young Mujahideen Movement in Somalia, said a Kenyan member named Othman Otibo carried out the suicide bombing at the Ethiopian military base in Afgooye. "Following this blessed martyrdom operation, a seven-minute clash broke out between the victorious lions of unification (Islam) and the remnants of the...defeated Ethiopians," it said in an Internet statement posted on Wednesday. The authenticity of the statement could not be verified. It was posted on a Web site used by Islamist militants fighting in Iraq, Afghanistan and Somalia. (Additional reporting by Sami Aboudi in Dubai)

^^ As always you detain weak arguments with ease...

^^ Nimanku libinta nooma ogola ma istiri...

^^LOL@Do you speak Amharic! Many do and it wouldn't surprise me if Duke picked up some for the last few months...