Calcio the orginal Football style. Football A.K.A Soccer? nah you guyz are the missing the whole point here 1st and foremost we pretend to be a sports ppl while we not secondly we know nothing about any game of sport so i think we should stick to what we know best wich is discriminating against each other and murdering each other and unfortunately that's the sport we mad about at the moment and if you don't agree with me then i'm sure you're a hypocrite and murderer 2 . SPEAK FOR YOURSELF werido Now i dont no what zoo you escaped from but thi isnt no circus so if you can only think of Of-Key comments like that keep them to yourself.

:rolleyes: :rolleyes: :rolleyes: :rolleyes: I give up . Its obvious that you are unable or perhaps unwilling to engage in this debate with an open mind. And you have consistently dogged my replies. So unless u come foward with a good article for me to read, or indeed just state why you regard what i am reading are just half truths i will ignore your responses as your quite clearly not interested in exploring any critisms of your countries past and present actions. You have acussed me of being blind to the truth :rolleyes: i shall say no more. Hey perhaps you should watch Bowlling for Colombian by Micheal Moore instead of getting frustrated with convincing more with your nonsense.

As Salam Calayakum Hi Nomads Quite recently i bumped into an Ertirean Guy i used to know from my days as an athelete a few years back. This guy (may allah guide him towards islam) was a practising christian searching for the truth. He was studying his bible everyday attending St Paul's church and staying there and studying for a week. Now in the end he got frustrated as he didnt find he didnt find it to be the truth, and he just didnt belive in christianty anymore. So knowing that am a muslim he started to ask me whether i could be of help to him in give him some materila to read, or to accompany him to a mosque where perhaps he could speak to someone? subhanallah. So i got him some introductory material to read as he has already started to read the englihs translation of the quran. No my question arised as when i was collecting some of the books to give this guy i read a passage from a leaflet from UKIM which is a dawah center based in the UK which stated the following. An important duty enjoined on all muslims by Allah (SWT) IS to be witnesses to the truth before all mankind, that means we should be proclaiming and explaining to the world the guidance that has come to us through Allah's messengers, to act upon it and to invite others to teh way of our lord. Most muslims Neglect this duty which is sinful So my brothers and sisters are we sinful in neglecting this duty which is upon us, and how many of us are in a position of being able to give a non-muslim the appriopriate dawah if they approached you?

Thanks very much Sweet girl those dua's are very much appreciated

I wouldnt be so quick to award the trophy to Real saxiib. I watched Juve's second leg match against Baraca expectng them to lose out, but their defencive display was simply awesome and i think it will all together be a different prosepct for zidane and co. I must say that who ever wins that match will win the champs league your quite right in saying that both Inter and Milan are ust simply not good enough

I think really that on this point it is you who have confussed yourself hibo. I think realist was very short in answering you.........but really he was to the point. Its not a question of miss interpreting Islam (of which you shouldnt assume that i have)as its quite clear and distinct and comprehensive in the roles that it has defined for the man and women and those are un-questionable for sincere practising muslims either male or female. I think more accurate is what lefty might have touched.

:rolleyes: :rolleyes: :rolleyes: Unfortunately you replies once again leaves me even more dissappointed than before. Whilst i put forward plasuable wide spread well accepted critisms of america and its foriegn policy you answer whimsically and emotionaly. Quite frankly the topic i had hoped would have attract more contributors than just the three so far (Inc myself) and it has become a tit for tat exchange on your part. I have said all i need to said earlier and your have indeed turned out to be one of those who hold the same views such as Dick Cheney and Donald Rumsfeld. Quite laughably you attempt to try to further establish what i can only discribe as more excuses on the part of success administartions of your countries by posting a selection of quite ridiculous links Is this all that takes to satisfy you?? lol what a joke. And you expect me to read something from a link called Yahoodi etc etc plzzzzzzzzz. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/2144421.stm http://projects.sipri.se/cbw/research/factsheet-1984.html http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/august/2/newsid_2526000/2526937.stm http://www.yahoodi.com/peace/sixdaywar.html http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/2970199.stm Get with the facts america is to blame for attacting Iraq, America is the one to blame for Sept 11 (go an investigate if your really interested), For supporting Israels continued brutual suppression of the Palestinans, For Droping 2 Nuclear weapons on Japan, for imposing sanctions on cuba for over 4 decades...........i can go on indefinately. Your country is not a help to the world, world peace or stability. It is a 'super power' militarly, economically and it could be of great help to the world if it sincerely acted as a benian force. But because its not ruled by true democratic prinicple that is so aspaoses every day but rather various lobby groups i.e. multi-national corporations such as exxon, by The Pro Israel lobby, by the zionist and christian right, it will continue on its path of double standards and subjugation of other countries people and regions if it is in the interets of its economy and strategic goals. So plz cut the crap coz your non sensical attempt of persuading me or indeed any other person on this forum is Just not washing. alright cheesers

Short and to the point. kinda sounds like your dscribing a typical woman walks past guy seen. Its the type of look some ladies like to give to guys just to get their attention. WELL IF SO....ITS ACCURATE .

Yeah unfortunately i cant quite stop listening to music. They time i did manage to cut down on my intack (and indeed for awhile become completly oblivious to what was the latest song) i had to endure listen to somali music or arab music in my, or my friends house. So inshallah in the long run it will not be a part of my life....but for know i cant stop listening to it with the enviorment am in.

Interesting topic, am sure something that quite alot of the nomads might thhinkink about quite often. Well for me its not at all important to meet any of the nomads in real life. The interactions on here si enough for me. That said i have met some nomads and the expirence wasnt bad at all.

COM'ON SERIA A Italy's finest get mixed reviews Thursday, 24 April 2003 Calcio's reputation is riding high again after three Serie A teams made it through to the UEFA Champions League semi-finals. But not everyone is happy. Catenaccio is back lol The progress of AC Milan, Internazionale FC and Juventus FC provoked mixed reactions in the European media - and polarised opinion in Italy and Spain. The Italian sports press hailed the return of 'catenaccio' after Inter and Juve squeezed into the last four at the expense of Valencia CF and FC Barcelona. Defensive art Both teams relied on a deadlocked defence and quick breakaways - tactics that were applauded by the Gazzetta dello Sport newspaper. "We might be in the 21st century but we haven't forgotten the art of catenaccio," it said. Italian style Ten-man Juve scored an extra-time winner to defeat Barcelona 2-1 at Camp Nou, 3-2 on aggregate, while Inter prevailed on away goals after losing 2-1 at the Mestalla. The Corriere dello Sport saluted the former's "miracle" victory - "a fantastic win earned by goals from Pavel Nedved and Marcelo Zalayeta". But the Spanish daily Marca thought that Barça had been beaten by "an Italian-style performance", which translates as 'unfairly'. 'Death of football' Inter "owed their passage to goalkeeper Francesco Toldo, who pulled off a series of prodigious saves", the Gazzetta said. "It was a siege." The Spanish daily Marca echoed that sentiment, insisting that: "Valencia were much better than Inter." Valencia coach Rafael Benítez was rather more explicit in his appraisal, saying: "If all sides played like Inter then football could disappear. They are the death of football." Three teams in the semi-final is an historic achievement Gazzetta dello Sport Proud achievement Unsurprisingly, the Italians went back on the counterattack. After Milan completed a triumvirate of semi-finalists on Wednesday, the Gazzetta heralded "the Italian dream" and said: "Three teams in the semi-final is an historic achievement that only Spanish football has matched, in 2000. Now the Spanish have only Real Madrid [CF] left. Their two other teams fell into Italian traps. The Spanish press have insulted our teams but we don't care if they are angry." Heaven and hell Milan advanced thanks to Jon Dahl Tomasson's injury-time goal in a 3-2 win against AFC Ajax. "Milan in heaven" was the Gazzetta reaction, but the Dutch daily Volkskrant lamented the "cruel" ending to "Ajax's march in Europe at the hands of a crafty Italian rival". No such worries for Tuttosport who looked forward to an all-Milan semi-final, saying: "A team from Milan will play the final on 28 May. It could be a match between two Italian sides. But Juve have to defeat a great team [Real Madrid] first." Splendid match Juve should already be "trembling with fright", AS said, after the other quarter-final second leg between Madrid and Manchester United FC at Old Trafford saw holders Madrid at their best - and arguably worst. "God bless Ronaldo," the paper added, after his hat-trick denied United in a "a splendid match" which finished 4-3 to the hosts but 6-5 to Madrid on aggregate. Marca continued the plaudits saying: "That's how football should be played." Last word The Times, meanwhile, paid tribute to both sides, saying: "Departure from the European Cup was made bearable for a privileged Old Trafford crowd by the pluck of Manchester United and the audacious brilliance of Real Madrid." Amen ©uefa.com 1998-2003. All rights reserved

lol ashantu lankini si yangu

A war that ends with the victory of the aggressor is worse than a war that ends with their defeat. It is more destructive, both physically and morally. Operation - Syrian Freedom 4/20/2003 - Political - Article Ref: IV0304-1940 By: Uri Avnery Iviews* - Victory justifies nothing. No victory justifies an evil war. Quite the opposite. It just adds to the evil. With the entry of American forces into Baghdad, opposition to the war in the US and Britain is dwindling. In other countries, too, doubts are starting to nibble away at the anti-war camp. I find this difficult to understand. Let's pose the question in the most provocative manner: what would have happened if Adolf Hitler had triumphed in World War II? Would this have turned his war into a just one? Let's assume that Hitler would have indicted his enemies at the Nuremberg war crimes court: Churchill for the terrible air raid on Dresden, Truman for dropping the atom bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki and Stalin for murdering millions in the Gulag camps. Would the historians have regarded this as a just war? A war that ends with the victory of the aggressor is worse than a war that ends with their defeat. It is more destructive, both physically and morally. On the eve of the Iraq war, world public opinion found its voice as never before. This world reaction was an immensely valuable moral victory. On it the future must be built. The flame must not be allowed to die down. It must flare up into a blaze again. It can't be stopped. Let me repeat the Israeli joke: "It is difficult to prophesy, especially about the future." But this time, the prophesies have come true so quickly, that even the "prophets" themselves are stunned. After the American onslaught on Afghanistan, we said in these columns: You can't stop a military machine that has achieved such a quick and complete victory with so few losses. It will push for action again and again. We said: the band of zealots which is in control of Washington cannot stop now, just as Napoleon and Hitler could not stop. Their inner logic will push them to attack again and again. On the eve of the attack on Iraq we said: after this, the next targets will be Syria and Iran. And here it comes. The shooting in Baghdad had not yet ended, while the first steps towards the attack on Syria were already being taken. Again the same outcry: "They have chemical weapons!" (And so have the Unites States, Russia, Egypt, Israel, Britain, France and many others. Every military machine develops these weapons, even for defensive purposes.) "There is a brutal dictator out there!" "He supports terrorism!" In a few days, we shall hear: "He butchered his own people as Saddam did with his Kurds!" (His father sure did. Assad Sr. shelled the town of Hama while bloodily putting down an Islamist rebellion.) "We must liberate the poor Syrian people from the tyrant!" And from there: "Regime change!" It will begin with slogans, "warnings", speeches in the UN and sanctions. The most expert professionals will prepare public opinion. The American and world media (with the Israelis to the fore) will eagerly cooperate. And then the war will become "inevitable". It already has a name: "Operation Syrian Freedom. Americans for the Golan. There is one important difference between "Iraqi Freedom" and "Syrian Freedom". The American attack on Iraq had many objectives: control of the oil, creation of a permanent American base in the heart of the Arab world, revenge for the failure of the father. Furthering Sharon's interests was only one objective, and as long as Sharon kept quiet, it wasn't too obvious. The coming American attack on Syria is quite different. It does not serve any major American interest, but it does serve (and how!) the interests of Sharon. For those who have forgotten the developments, here is a brief reminder: In 1967, after Syrian-Egyptian threats, the Israeli army attacked Syria (after Egypt and Jordan) and conquered the Golan Heights, which until that time were known in Israel as "the Syrian Heights". Their 160 thousand inhabitants fled (they vegetate to this day as refugees in Syria.) Their land was taken over by Israeli settlers. The Likud government has officially annexed the Heights (but not the West Bank and Gaza Strip) to Israel. From that time, the liberation of the Golan has become a central aim for Syria. According to international law, this is occupied Syrian territory. Two Israeli Prime Ministers, Yitzhaq Rabin and Ehud Barak, as much as admitted this when they agreed to return all the Golan to Syria. The negotiations broke down in each case because of an argument about a few hundred meters. Neither Rabin nor Barak was ready to allow the Assads to "wet their feet in the sea of Tiberias". The two lions (In Arabic, Assad means lion) acted very cautiously. After the father's failed to dislodge the Israeli army in the October 1973 war, they did not use their own military again. They found a way to fight by proxy: the Lebanese Hizbullah militia has harassed the Israeli army with pinpricks. Both Assads hoped that this would help them to get the Golan back in the end. Also, some of the Palestinian pro-Syrian (i.e. anti-Arafat) organizations are based in Damascus. Now along comes the Bush administration, under the influence of Wolfowitz, Perle & Co., and issues an ultimatum to the Syrians: give up your chemical weapons, eliminate Hizbullah, get rid of the "terrorists". For the Syrians this means, in effect, to give up any hope of ever getting the Golan Heights back. It also means American recognition of their annexation by Israel, in contravention of all the UN resolutions and the position of every US president up to now. Without Iraq, Syria and Lebanon, the threat of "the Eastern front" that has been haunting the Israeli military for decades will disappear. Egypt and Jordan have already signed peace treaties. Sharon will be able to concentrate all his might against the Palestinians, who will remain alone. Moral insanity. Sometimes, the entire character of a person is encapsulated in one single word of theirs. This happened last week to Donald Rumsfeld. The world saw the terrible pictures of what's happening in Baghdad under the eyes of the occupation forces. Baghdad was ransacked as in the days of the Mongols. The mob did not plunder only the government buildings, without which no modern society can function, but also hospitals and museums. The wounded and the sick were left without life-saving equipment and medicines. Priceless cultural treasures from the cradle of human civilization were destroyed or plundered - one of the worst cultural disasters in the history of mankind. The absolute responsibility for this outrage, which has been going on for more than a week, day after day, falls on the occupier. That is what international law says, in agreement with common sense. It shows the total indifference of the planners of the war for the population they were about to "liberate". No provisions had been made to protect them from the anarchy that is to be expected when any regime collapses, no preparations for safeguarding vital public buildings and cultural treasures. A city of many millions was turned over to the mob. When Rumsfeld was asked about it, the man who is responsible for this catastrophe dismissively: "When a regime falls, there is always some untidiness." Untidiness! One word that speaks volumes. About the man himself. Pity the settlers. Years ago, my wife and I were traveling in the west of Czechoslovakia. It was a dark, bitterly cold winter night. Suddenly, Rachel's eyes were caught by a small house, at some distance from the road, where a red light picked out a small area of snow, surrounded by utter darkness. She asked me to stop the car and struggled through the deep snow to take some pictures. While she was busy taking photos, the door of the house burst open and a disheveled woman in dressing gown and slippers came running out. "What do you want? What are you doing here?" she demanded in a panic. Rachel explained that she was a tourist and that the beautiful sight had captured her imagination. Gradually, the woman relaxed. "I was afraid you were Germans who wanted to reclaim the house," she apologized. She was a Czech from another part of the country, who as a child had moved with her family in this house after the German population had been thrown out at the end of World War II. Fifty years later, she was still living in constant fear. I was reminded of this when I read about the Iraqi-Arab settlers, who had been brought by Saddam to Kirkuk and settled there in order to Arabize the Kurdish town. Many of the Kurdish inhabitants had been driven out. A foreign journalist happened to come across some of these Arabs in the middle of nowhere. They had fled their homes in sheer panic, in fear of Kurdish revenge. They asked the foreigner to bring the American soldiers to protect them. Food for thought for our settlers. Uri Avnery is an Israeli journalist, peace activist and a former member of the Knesset

Interesting poll abayo . But anyway A WarM wLcM TO YOU am sure u will enjoy your time on S.O.L.

Am not one for parroting things but u might read what gediid said and take it on boad saxiib Explain to me this. How is bombing a country into oblivion helping it. How is standing idealy by when its collective history (which is the oldest in the history of man) is looted like cheap irrelevant stuff.?? can u just explain to me how exactly this is helping the iraq ppl?? It is obvious from your post that followed mine, that you have not learned from world history or have taken the time to research current events with an open mind. I will address a couple of your points here, so you can see that. I would argue quite the opposite Throt. It is you who obviously havent followed the events that hvae been unfolding for the past 3 years without an open mind and close scrutiny to what your administartion has been saying and plotting and planning for the world and the regimes to which the are against. I usual go to even greater lengths than simply presenting dissenting views from eminent writers on what ever subject that is being debated. However it ws patently clear to me that you are of the neo-conservative persuation when u said (quite inslustingly) No matter who we try to help, someone always says we have some hidden agenda. PLZZZZZZZZZZZZ i mean d i need to state the obvious?? K i give you credit for at least giving some evidence (The Marshal plan for the reconstruction of europe )for your absurd assertion. But what happened in WW11 cannot be compared to the military adventures of this current era. And if u where so keen to help the iraq ppl why did you administration back in 1991 after the iraqis listen to G.Bush seniors call for an intafada (up rising) let them be brutail suppressed by saddam and his regime?? You see i do no what the diff between west and east germany where and what the diff are between the north and south of korea........ i might add the both are a direct result of your countries meddling in. Back then under the guise of fighting against the 'evil empire' (SOVIET UNION) and communism u country amnaged to attack the people of vietnam with agent orange and yet it still retained its moral high ground about saddam gassing his own ppl in his own version of chemical attack (which incedentally were provided by america) WOW great work america u really helped the worldf alot in this last centuary Now to answer some question u posed directly to me You asked 1.Does Klein think that the U.S. in 30 days or less can fix the things like sewers, phone lines, cable, water, electric, power, and oil lines that Saddam destroyed over 25 years? Even more to the point, do you Nope clearly not........i might add they wopuld be no need to rebuild them had they not been bomed into disintegration. And whilst your invading military guards stauncly the oil ministry and other 'KEy Interest sites' the standf by idile and let looters steel from any hospital and libarries and other crucial instituation, Wow WHAT GREAT HELP am sure the iraqis' on the ground appreciate that. You said 3. I did not say that some of the things said, and copied are not true, my problem is they are only half of the story Granted u did imply that they were not true, which is just as bad as saying it out right. And if they are half truths then plz like i stated before (interestingly u still have refused to provide me with the history and science lesson) provide me with the information that your are viewing ot are they, like your administrations top secret intelligence reports on iraq sites of WMD, only for your viewing?? Hey tell you until u can come back to me with a more comprehemsive answer backed up with authorities form history recent or past of america acting as a benian force you should read more into these thruths that u view as 'half thruths' coz u never no the might actually teh full picture. So in the mean time why dont u chew on this next offering and read it this time k. And explain to me how in hell by keeping military bases in iraq america wants to help iraq's. Perhaps they also want to help Iran and Syria? ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- US 'to keep bases in Iraq' David Teather in New York and Ian Traynor Monday April 21, 2003 The Guardian The US is planning a long-term military presence in Iraq, in a move which will dramatically extend American power in the region and spread dismay and fear among its opponents across the Arab world. According to reports, the Pentagon intends to retain four military bases in Iraq after the invasion force withdraws. It is already using the bases to support continuing operations against pockets of resistance. They are at the international airport near Baghdad, at Talil; close to the city of Nassiriya in the south; at an isolated airstrip called H-1 in the western desert; and at the Bashur airfield in the Kurdish north. A senior administration official told the New York Times: "There will be some kind of a long term defence relationship with Iraq, similar to Afghanistan. The scope of that has yet to be defined - whether it will be full-up operational bases, smaller forward operating bases or just plain access." The plans would be eyed nervously by neighbouring Syria and by Iran, a member of President George Bush's "axis of evil", now facing American-backed governments along two sides of its border. "This is a nightmare unfolding for both Syria and Iran," Toby Dodge, an Iraq expert at the University of Warwick, said. A sign that Syria may be trying to halt the deterioration in its links with the US came at the weekend when Saddam's son-in-law and member of his inner circle, Jamal Mustafa Sultan Abdullah al-Tikriti, returned from Damascus to surrender to the Iraqi National Congress in Baghdad. The Bush administration has warned Syria not to harbour members of Saddam's regime. It claims Syria also sponsors terrorism. A permanent US military foothold in Iraq would profoundly change the political make-up of the Middle East. Part of its attraction is that it would offer the US an alternative to Saudi Arabia, which was reluctant to cooperate on Iraq and is viewed by American officials as a breeding ground for terrorism after the revelation that 15 of the 19 hijackers on September 11 were from the kingdom. The plans could leave the White House open to the charges of empire-building that it has been so desperate to avoid. As in Afghanistan, it is likely to keep the number of deployed troops to a minimum with the guarantee of access to the bases should they be needed. But it is a difficult balance to achieve. If the US is seen to be deepening its presence in the region it could spur on Islamist extremists. "This will be an alarming step to most of the Middle East," said Abdul Bari Atwan, editor of the London-based newspaper Al-Quds al-Arabi. "It seems they want to control the whole region." The Pentagon declined to comment yesterday but the bases are expected to be accompanied by a reduction in the US military presence in Saudi Arabia. Marcus Corbin, of the Centre for Defence Information in Washington, said he expected the Pentagon to try to keep its options open in Saudi Arabia, but to have a much smaller and less visible presence there. The Pentagon has also been reducing its presence in Turkey. With Syria, Saudi Arabia and Iran as neighbours, Iraq is strategically in a prime location. "Geographically, Iraq is ideal for the Americans," Mr Dodge said. The bases plan comes in addition to the vast expansion of the US military which has taken place elsewhere across the Middle East and central Asia in the past two years, most of it in Muslim states Washington's success in persuading countries from Romania to Kyrgyzstan to host its military bases is a reflection of the new era ushered in by September 11. "The military always likes to have bases and the ability to move to bases at short notice. What's new is the opportunities," said Mr Corbin. The establishment of US military bases would increase the pressure on Syria to fall into line with the Americans.

I dont no about that saxiibo but hey check out the article below ------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------- Religion and politics converge in march of a million Iraqi Shias By Phil Reeves and Andrew Buncombe in Karbala 21 April 2003 All day, they kept on coming. Flocks of hunched old women plodding along the dual carriageway in their stockinged feet, black chadors flapping wildly in the hot and dusty wind. Packs of gaunt and fiery-eyed young men striding under a canopy of green and black flags, bouncing to the rhythm of their own noisy chants. Saintly old men in white robes, limping bare-footed on the hot asphalt, resting from time to time to lean on their wooden staffs. Some marched along beating their chests; some carried babes in arms. Sixty miles of dead-flat landscape separates Baghdad from Karbala. Yesterday the highway between them – a road not unlike the M4, but littered with wrecked Iraqi fighting vehicles – became an unbroken flow of people. They were walking south, a crowd of pilgrims so dense that they shut down half the carriageway to cars for miles on end. A vast army of Iraqi Shia Muslims – and a few from neighbouring Iran, too – was on the move, pouring out of the towns and villages towards one of their holiest cities in a traditional annual march that was banned under Saddam Hussein. From Baghdad, the journey takes two days. But some of those who live further afield said they had been walking for five. This was, first and foremost, a ritual, an act of self-sacrifice to mark the 40th day of mourning for the death of the prophet's grandson, Hussein, 1,323 years ago. This red letter day in the Shia calendar falls on Wednesday. But it is an event that also has considerable political significance. Though this was primarily a religious event, the mass march – which will continue today – is a de facto show of strength by Iraq's Shia majority, ruthlessly suppressed under Saddam Hussein, and now eager to lay down their marker in the political vacuum of the chaotic and dangerous post-Saddam days. In Karbala the pilgrims find a city that is operating under the rule of the Shia elders, in what could be a blueprint for other cities across Iraq. It could equally prove to be the start of an overwhelming problem for Washington and London as they try to establish an inclusive government among the Iraqi population, of which 60 per cent is Shia. Since the war ended, the Shias have been quietly taking control of running Shia- dominated towns. This was another tacit reminder to the US that their community – whose aspirations bear little resemblance to Washington's hopes for the brave new world – must be taken into account. There was little sign of gratitude from the walkers towards the Americans for sending in the occupation forces which overthrew the regime that oppressed them, banning the march and killing thousands of Shias over the years. As the tide of people trudged down the southbound lane of Routes 8 and 9, an armoured snake of American army trucks and lorries carrying fuel, cranes and – intriguingly – motorboats, passed them by, heading north to the capital. No one waved. No one cheered. Less than two weeks after the "liberation" of the Shias, the American soldiers attracted only wary, curious stares. So, too, did the uneasy handful of soldiers from the so-called Free Iraqi Forces who were guarding the road near Karbala. These are the men of Ahmed Chalabi, the Iraqi exile businessman wanted for fraud in Jordan, whom the Pentagon's hawks have been pushing as a possible new leader. The post-Saddam confusion could hardly have been better illustrated: within a few miles the territory is controlled by the US military, with patrols by the exiles who form the little-loved Mr Chalabi's militia, and a city which is, in effect, run by the Shias. The sun was barely up yesterday before Radhia Hassan Alwan, a tiny, shrivelled woman of 73, set off from her village to join the pilgrimage. So small and haggard is she that it was hard to imagine that she could manage even a mile of the great walk. Yet she had covered 20 miles, and professed to feeling perfectly well. This was an historic moment for her. She said she had always made the annual pilgrimage but for the past three decades it was in secret, sneaking across the fields to avoid the regime's snoops and henchmen. She said she had been caught on several occasions by intelligence agents, who would beat and harass her. "I felt totally alone," she recalled, watching people stream down the road towards her. "Now I am very, very happy." There were lots of stories like that yesterday. Ali Abdul Hussein al-Abzawi, a 30-year-old labourer, said he had walked 150 miles to get to Karbala over five days. He, too, claimed to have covertly made the pilgrimage for years – in his case, since 1994. "I used to creep through the fields. In the past we would be shot at, but now we are free." At lunchtime in the central plaza of Karbala, a mass of people were recovering from the walk by browsing through the pavement stalls or sleeping under the colonnades – now selling previously banned books and pictures of respected Shia clerics. There were photos of the powerful Grand Ayatollah Sayyid Ali al-Sistani of Najaf, the widely respected scholar Professor Mohammed al-Wa'ali, and Ayatollah Mohammad Bakr al-Hakim, the pro-Iranian leader whose 30,000-strong militia is already running some border towns. The city is now firmly in the control of the Shia elders. Last week a 10-man council was elected to help oversee the running of Karbala but it seemed clear that orders came down from the mosque. The head imam in the city, Sheikh Abdul Mahdi al-Kerbali, chose his words carefully as he explained that people had been obeying the orders of their imams and the religious students. "You can see the co- operation we have had," he said. "The students have a good relationship with the people and they obey the orders of the students. The co-operation you can see in the streets of the city reflects that." Plastered on the entrance of Karbala's two great gold-domed shrines – tombs of the Imam Hussein and his half-brother Abbas, seen as martyrs by Shias – were demands for the notoriously divided Muslims of Iraq to unite, a repeated theme on the streets. Placards carried by a few among the marching masses were equally explicit. "Yes, yes, to Islam. No, no to occupation," said one. But the men in the cafés of Karbala are still smouldering over the American failure to support the Shia uprising of 1991. As they supped their tea, they went through the motions of expressing appreciation towards the Americans and British for toppling Saddam. But the real emotion was reserved for George Bush, whose motives for invading Iraq are seen here as a starkly self-interested quest for oil. "We reject the occupation completely, said Riad al-Musawi, a 40-year-old baker. "They have promised to leave the country, but if they don't we will fight them with knives and stones. More even than the Palestinians." 21 April 2003 10:21 Search this site: Printable Story

Whats up bro thx for the link it was a very interesting read. I did somewaht put me off though. I would have thought that an interest free morgtage would have been somehwat cheaper, excluding the extra payments done on the account of the rent. Oh well @ least some institutions are now starting to offer islamic Morgatges. Nice one North

Wlcm abayo hope u enjoy your time on the site.

Am supprised u have reached that conclusion hibo. Even discounting the religous distinction which is comprehensive, common sense dictates that men are men and women are women. It is not a case of superiorty rather rights and obligations, and thats where it is correct that men preceed women as it is there duty and obligation to provide for and look after them

Player of the Year shortlist revealed Strikers dominate the nominations for the PFA Players' player of the year award with Arsenal's midfielder Patrick Vieira failing to even make the six-man shortlist. Vieira has been a dominating force in the Gunners' season but team-mate Thierry Henry is the favourite to win the award, with Everton's Wayne Rooney expected to be named the young player of the year. Henry faces competition from Manchester United's Ruud van Nistelrooy and Paul Scholes, current Premiership leading scorer James Beattie plus a couple of old war-horses in Alan Shearer and Gianfranco Zola. Players' player of the year nominations: James Beattie (Southampton), Thierry Henry (Arsenal), Paul Scholes (Manchester United), Alan Shearer (Newcastle), Ruud van Nistelrooy (Manchester United), Gianfranco Zola (Chelsea) Young player of the year nominations: Craig Bellamy (Newcastle), Jermain Defoe (West Ham), Jermaine Jenas (Newcastle), John O'Shea (Manchester United), Scott Parker (Charlton), Wayne Rooney (Everton)

Is there a syndrome going around with all these sex crazed kids rampaging through this website? lol

I see you have shyied away from given me an answer lol. I Can understand way so dont sweat. Robert Fisk: A civilisation torn to pieces http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article2908.htm Baghdad, reports Robert Fisk, is a city at war with itself, at the mercy of thieves and gunmen. And, in the city's most important museum, something truly terrible has taken place 13 April 2003 They lie across the floor in tens of thousands of pieces, the priceless antiquities of Iraq's history. The looters had gone from shelf to shelf, systematically pulling down the statues and pots and amphorae of the Assyrians and the Babylonians, the Sumerians, the Medes, the Persians and the Greeks and hurling them on to the concrete. Our feet crunched on the wreckage of 5,000-year-old marble plinths and stone statuary and pots that had endured every siege of Baghdad, every invasion of Iraq throughout history ­ only to be destroyed when America came to "liberate" the city. The Iraqis did it. They did it to their own history, physically destroying the evidence of their own nation's thousands of years of civilisation. Not since the Taliban embarked on their orgy of destruction against the Buddhas of Bamiyan and the statues in the museum of Kabul ­ perhaps not since the Second World War or earlier ­ have so many archaeological treasures been wantonly and systematically smashed to pieces. "This is what our own people did to their history," the man in the grey gown said as we flicked our torches yesterday across the piles of once perfect Sumerian pots and Greek statues, now headless, armless, in the storeroom of Iraq's National Archaeological Museum. "We need the American soldiers to guard what we have left. We need the Americans here. We need policemen." But all that the museum guard, Abdul-Setar Abdul-Jaber, experienced yesterday was gun battles between looters and local residents, the bullets hissing over our heads outside the museum and skittering up the walls of neighbouring apartment blocks. "Look at this," he said, picking up a massive hunk of pottery, its delicate patterns and beautifully decorated lips coming to a sudden end where the jar ­ perhaps 2ft high in its original form ­ had been smashed into four pieces. "This was Assyrian." The Assyrians ruled almost 2,000 years before Christ. And what were the Americans doing as the new rulers of Baghdad? Why, yesterday morning they were recruiting Saddam Hussein's hated former policemen to restore law and order on their behalf. The last army to do anything like this was Mountbatten's force in South-east Asia, which employed the defeated Japanese army to control the streets of Saigon ­ with their bayonets fixed ­ after the recapture of Indo-China in 1945. A queue of respectably dressed Baghdad ex-cops formed a queue outside the Palestine Hotel in Baghdad after they heard a radio broadcast calling for them to resume their "duties" on the streets. In the late afternoon, at least eight former and very portly senior police officers, all wearing green uniforms ­ the same colour as the uniforms of the Iraqi Baath party ­ turned up to offer their services to the Americans, accompanied by a US Marine. But there was no sign that any of them would be sent down to the Museum of Antiquity. But "liberation" has already turned into occupation. Faced by a crowd of angry Iraqis in Firdos Square demanding a new Iraqi government "for our protection and security and peace", US Marines, who should have been providing that protection, stood shoulder to shoulder facing them, guns at the ready. The reality, which the Americans ­ and, of course, Mr Rumsfeld ­ fail to understand is that under Saddam Hussein, the poor and deprived were always the Shia Muslims, the middle classes always the Sunnis, just as Saddam himself was a Sunni. So it is the Sunnis who are now suffering plunder at the hands of the Shia. And so the gun-fighting that broke out yesterday between property owners and looters was, in effect, a conflict between Sunni and Shia Muslims. By failing to end this violence ­ by stoking ethnic hatred through their inactivity ­ the Americans are now provoking a civil war in Baghdad. Yesterday evening, I drove through the city for more than an hour. Hundreds of streets are now barricaded off with breeze blocks, burnt cars and tree trunks, watched over by armed men who are ready to kill strangers who threaten their homes or shops. Which is just how the civil war began in Beirut in 1975. A few US Marine patrols did dare to venture into the suburbs yesterday ­ positioning themselves next to hospitals which had already been looted ­ but fires burnt across the city at dusk for the third consecutive day. The municipality building was blazing away last night, and on the horizon other great fires were sending columns of smoke miles high into the air. Too little, too late. Yesterday, a group of chemical engineers and water purification workers turned up at the US Marine headquarters, pleading for protection so they could return to their jobs. Electrical supply workers came along, too. But Baghdad is already a city at war with itself, at the mercy of gunmen and thieves. There is no electricity in Baghdad ­ as there is no water and no law and no order ­ and so we stumbled in the darkness of the museum basement, tripping over toppled statues and stumbling into broken winged bulls. When I shone my torch over one far shelf, I drew in my breath. Every pot and jar ­ "3,500 BC" it said on one shelf corner ­ had been bashed to pieces. Why? How could they do this? Why, when the city was already burning, when anarchy had been let loose ­ and less than three months after US archaeologists and Pentagon officials met to discuss the country's treasures and put the Baghdad Archaeological Museum on a military data-base ­ did the Americans allow the mobs to destroy the priceless heritage of ancient Mesopotamia? And all this happened while US Secretary of Defence, Donald Rumsfeld, was sneering at the press for claiming that anarchy had broken out in Baghdad. For well over 200 years, Western and local archaeologists have gathered up the remnants of this centre of early civilisation from palaces, ziggurats and 3,000-year-old graves. Their tens of thousands of handwritten card index files ­ often in English and in graceful 19th-century handwriting ­ now lie strewn amid the broken statuary. I picked up a tiny shard. "Late 2nd century, no. 1680" was written in pencil on the inside. To reach the storeroom, the mobs had broken through massive steel doors, entering from a back courtyard and heaving statues and treasures to cars and trucks. The looters had left only a few hours before I arrived and no one ­ not even the museum guard in the grey gown ­ had any idea how much they had taken. A glass case that had once held 40,000-year-old stone and flint objects had been smashed open. It lay empty. No one knows what happened to the Assyrian reliefs from the royal palace of Khorsabad, nor the 5,000-year-old seals nor the 4,500-year-old gold leaf earrings once buried with Sumerian princesses. It will take decades to sort through what they have left, the broken stone torsos, the tomb treasures, the bits of jewellery glinting amid the piles of smashed pots. The mobs who came here ­ Shia Muslims, for the most part, from the hovels of Saddam City ­ probably had no idea of the value of the pots or statues. Their destruction appears to have been the result of ignorance as much as fury. In the vast museum library, only a few books ­ mostly mid-19th-century archaeological works ­ appeared to have been stolen or destroyed. Looters set little value in books. I found a complete set of the Geographical Journal from 1893 to 1936 still intact ­ lying next to them was a paperback entitled Baghdad, The City of Peace ­ but thousands of card index sheets had been flung from their boxes over stairwells and banisters. British, French and German archaeologists played a leading role in the discovery of some of Iraq's finest treasures. The great British Arabist, diplomatic schemer and spy Gertrude Bell, the "uncrowned queen of Iraq" whose tomb lies not far away from the museum, was an enthusiastic supporter of their work. The Germans built the modern-day museum beside the Tigris river and only in 2000 was it reopened to the public after nine years of closure following the 1991 Gulf War. Even as the Americans encircled Baghdad, Saddam Hussein's soldiers showed almost the same contempt for its treasures as the looters. Their slit trenches and empty artillery positions are still clearly visible in the museum lawns, one of them dug beside a huge stone statue of a winged bull. Only a few weeks ago, Jabir Khalil Ibrahim, the director of Iraq's State Board of Antiquities, referred to the museum's contents as "the heritage of the nation". They were, he said, "not just things to see and enjoy ­ we get strength from them to look to the future. They represent the glory of Iraq". Mr Ibrahim has vanished, like so many government employees in Baghdad, and Mr Abdul-Jaber and his colleagues are now trying to defend what is left of the country's history with a collection of Kalashnikov rifles. "We don't want to have guns, but everyone must have them now," he told me. "We have to defend ourselves because the Americans have let this happen. They made a war against one man ­ so why do they abandon us to this war and these criminals?" Half an hour later, I contacted the civil affairs unit of the US Marines in Saadun Street and gave them the exact location of the museum and the condition of its contents. A captain told me that "we're probably going to get down there". Too late. Iraq's history had already been trashed by the looters whom the Americans unleashed on the city during their "liberation". "You are American!" a woman shouted at me in English yesterday morning, wrongly assuming I was from the US. "Go back to your country. Get out of here. You are not wanted here. We hated Saddam and now we are hating Bush because he is destroying our city." It was a mercy she could not visit the Museum of Antiquity to see for herself that the very heritage of her country ­ as well as her city ­ has been destroyed.

SNM, are Martyers, Man of substance and gut. But then Xasan you and your like now nothing about that. Originally by Angel Dust. The above sentence gives one of the reasons why i think it is rather pointless and distructive to have this kind of topics on S.O.L. I think really Gediid saxiib one has to question your motives for posting such a topic here. why?? Of what Benefit is it for us to relive such events of which am sure this is just one in many hundreds if not thousands. And this lol i found amuzing :confused: I thank those that really care about the somali people and showed their utter disgust at the picuture of a fellow Somali being burned, even in the Hadith or the Quran I cant remember where I read it and if I am wrong Allah forgive me, but that burning is only reserved for Allah and the last day and that no one shall burn another person. I must say am always left puzzeled and purplexed when i see individuals such as urself (and i dont need to go into anymore details) citing the quran to evidence the validity of your argument. Infact i find it abit sickening. I put it to you that your simply interested in coming on to S.O.L to Brag about somaliland which i have no problem with , However u then continue onwards on your path of irrelevent accusations and try to demonise those of us nomads that come from the south. SO cant you see the contradction there?? lol perhaps not. Anyway i will step out of this debate before i say something which i my late regret.

I think that this guy should be seen as a role model for what he has managed to achieve for himself. Take a look down. Rageh Omaar was most recently BBC News' Africa Correspondent, based in Johannesburg. Previously he was Developing World Correspondent from 1998 and covered stories ranging from drought in Ethiopia to devastating floods in Mozambique. Rageh began his journalistic career in 1990 as a trainee at The Voice newspaper in Brixton and then moved to City Limits magazine. In 1991 he moved to Ethiopia where he freelanced as a foreign correspondent, much of his work being broadcast by BBC World Service. In 1992, he returned to London as a producer for Focus on Africa for the World Service at Bush House. Between 1994 and 1996, he worked as a broadcast journalist for the World Service and then became a producer and reporter for Newshour. In September 1996 he undertook a three-month sabbatical at the University of Jordan, where he studied Arabic. He was appointed Amman correspondent in March 1997. Rageh Omaar was born in Hargeisa, Somaliland on 19 July 1967. He is the youngest of four children. Educated at Cheltenham Boys College, he went on to Oxford University where he gained a BA Honours in Modern History in 1990.

Who would u trade for 1)food (to survive) 3)Shujui (Surely U dont think I can stand him talking all day long!) The feeling is mutual Grey m&m 2)Clean water (to drink, and for cooking) Shujui (sorry but, your not only dangerously close to my post number, but you talk almost as much as a rambling mad man) S.O.S u better send out an S.O.S coz am gonna take over ur No: 2 position 3)fire (woods + matches) 3.Shujui-1 & Darman (hmm, maybe I should I have replaced Ilhaam with ya name) u should have Lazie Lazie is in @ n0: 3 4)Cloths is it too late to change my mind wat if i let u stay and trade shujui instead of u. Can_Lul u should have changed ur minded 5)Some bedding No cambo...it's never too late, trade Shuj as soon as possible! Mango Barwaaqo....i never expected to be tufferd out by you. your in @ 6 6)First aid kit Shyeman, nothin personal Bro just had to add in one guy. 7)Toothbrush + tooth paste Mr millenium Nothin personal bro just couldnt thinkin of any more 8)Soap, shampoo and anti-perspirant deodorant. Samigirl appropriate for this catergory as she has already posted some stinkin stuff stink out the place 9)A beauty case full of ur fav make up brand (as for the guys playsation 2) Rookie of the Year, why? he has to be the most lazy nomad on here i mean com'on post somethin saxiib. Get of the PS2 10)The choice of vanilla/strawberry/choc ice cream. Wildcat/Kool Kat they can haver a cat fight to decide how survives