Southern Somalis should be happy that Somaliland may finally attain an economic clout in the region. Somalis need to stop this zero sum game they have been playing for the last 2 decades. It hasn't benefited any one in the region. The mind set that Somaliland has to bleed to make southern Somalis happy or Xabashis have to bleed for Somalis to feel good about themselves is medieval in thinking .It has no place in the 21st century.

China hopes to turn Berbera into strategic trading hub BEIJING — Somaliland President Ahmed M. Silanyo arrived in the Chinese capital on Friday for bilateral talks likely to yield dozens of deals, statement said. According to a Presidential press state, the Somaliland delegation met with Chinese investors and Government representatives on Saturday. The statement said a number of topics including economic and trade cooperation, as well as mutual activity were discussed. It added Somaliland, Ethiopia and China are expected to sign trilateral agreements on gas, oil and logistic deals in the days ahead. Just last month, Hong Kong-based PetroTrans Company Ltd signed a deal with the Ethiopian Government to purchase gas and oil over a 25 year period. The Chinese company will invest close to $4 billion in developing oil and gas reserves in blocks 3 and 4, 11 and 15, 12 and 16, and 17 and 20 in the ****** region. John Chine, chairman and president of PetroTrans, told reporters in Addis Ababa that his company plans to build oil and gas pipelines from the ****** basin to the Somaliland sea port of Berbera. He revealed they will also build processing facilities in the town over the next three years. Today, the Somaliland government re-echoed Mr Chine’s words– finally revealing that China will export oil and gas finds from Berbera. They added as well as building these key infrastructure for gas and oil, the Chinese government has given the green lights to expand the port. They said once completed the port will be able to serve the entire East African region. Berbera port sits on a strategic location at the mouth of the Red Sea and at the center of Asia, Africa and the Middle East. The Government in Hargeisa might lease it to Hong Kong-based Hutchison Port Holdings (HPH). The Ethiopian Shipping Lines (ESL) might also become one of the main shareholders. ESL announced this week that it has placed an order for nine additional vessels from China at a cost of $293 million. The vessels might be used in Berbera. The port is expected to become the main port of Somaliland and Ethiopia, a landlocked nation ever since its former territory of Eritrea declared independence. Somaliland believes if Berbera is managed by China, it will exceed its rival neighbor Djibouti once given a full face-lift since 90 percent of goods in Africa are from China. Road and rail networks that will connect Berbera to Ethiopia and other key infrastructures and networks in the region will be part of the project. The statement finally said Somaliland, Ethiopia and China will sign the agreements in well organized reception in the Chinese capital. It is not clear if the Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles will sign on the Ethiopian side. He is currently in China as well to attend the opening ceremony of the 26th Summer Universiade in Shenzhen. “The project, the biggest investment in the country yet, is anticipated to contribute significantly to the country’s social and economic progress,” the statement said. Experts believe Berbera port will become an important trading hub for Chinese traders in the region. It could provide services as both a transit port for the region and an international transshipment and refueling center.

It is safe to say there is little or no relationship between Sudanese and Somali people even though both are Muslims. On the other hand Sudanese and Xabashi people have cordial relationship even when governments of the two peoples are not on the same page. It is fascinating. Here is a Christian xabashi entertaining Sudanese fans by singing one of Sudan's signature songs. Here are Sudanese kids dancing to a famous Amharic song by Muluken Melese (Nanu Ney)

Chinese firm PetroTrans signed a deal in July for concessions to Ethiopia's Calub and Hilala gas fields. The company will spend $4 billion to develop the reserve, according to the ministry of mines. * Eleven firms licensed in 31 blocks By Aaron Maasho ADDIS ABABA, Aug 3 (Reuters) - Ethiopia, which has seen a surge in requests for exploration rights, hopes to produce gas from its huge and under-developed reserves in its Somali Region in six years time, an official said on Wednesday. Eleven companies have now been granted licences to develop 31 blocks out of 41 throughout the Horn of Africa nation, which believes its ****** basin in the south-eastern province may contain gas reserves of 4.7 trillion cubic feet of gas and major oil deposits. Chinese firm PetroTrans signed a deal in July for concessions to Ethiopia's Calub and Hilala gas fields. The company will spend $4 billion to develop the reserve, according to the ministry of mines. "Our effort is to develop the discovered resources as quickly as possible," Ketsela Tadesse, head of licensing at the Ministry of Mines, told Reuters in an interview. "In five or six years time there may be a chance to produce gas," he said. Ketsela said "several" firms have filed requests to explore oil and gas in the country's ******, Abay, Mekelle, Metemma, Gambela and the Southern Rift sedimentary basins. Licences have been awarded for 31 out of more than 40 recognised blocks, of which 18 are in the Somali Region, he said. "All these regions are underexplored, but companies are now interested to work with us," Ketsela added. Tullow Oil , Epsilon Energy Limited and Pexco Exploration are among the foreign firms that have been granted licenses in the last three years, Ketsela said. REBEL THREAT PetroTrans' deal, however, comes amid security threats in the Somali Region, where rebels threaten the exploration activities of foreign firms. The ****** National Liberation Front (ONLF) is fighting for independence for the mainly ethnic Somali province - also known as the ****** -- and regularly warns foreign oil and gas companies to stop exploring there or face attacks. "Cordoning large tracts of land in ****** for this nefarious project will create havoc in the delicate drought-prone eco-system of ****** territory and destroy the livelihood of millions," the group said in a statement of the recent agreement. The ONLF said the $4 billion allocated by PetroTrans would be used for investment to "arm government-allied militia" in a bid to defeat the rebels. Ethiopian forces launched an assault against the ONLF, which has been fighting for more than 20 years, after a 2007 attack on an oil exploration field owned by a subsidiary of China's Sinopec Corp. Analysts say the rebels have been severely weakened ever since but can hamper development with hit-and-run attacks. "The door is open for private investors," Ketsela said of the Somali Region. (Editing by George Obulutsa and Keiron Henderson)

Drought forces thousands of Somalis into Ethiopia Source: AFP Africa | Thu, 07 Jul 2011 ADDIS ABABA (AFP) - Thousands of Somalis have fled into neighbouring Ethiopia to seek relief from a harsh drought that has hit the Horn of Africa region, a World Food Programme official said Thursday. Some 1,600 Somalis are arriving daily at refugee camps in southeast Ethiopia which are already home to more than 110,000 refugees. "They all had the same story: it's hunger," said Judith Shuler, a WFP spokeswoman in Ethiopia. Two large camps in the region are already overcrowded and a new one that was set up last week already houses 12,000 refugees. "We do what we can, but people when they arrive are in very bad shape and have very high malnourishment," said Sabine Wahning, a UN refugee agency programme officer. The severe drought has also forced thousands of other Somalis into Kenya, which hosts the world's largest refugee camp mainly inhabited by Somalis who have fled relentless conflict back home. On Tuesday, Somalia's Al-Qaeda-inspired rebels, who expelled foreign aid groups in regions under their control two years ago, appealed for help to thousands of residents devastated by the drought. The current drought has been described by aid groups as one of the worst in decades.

Currently there are close to 100,000 Eritrean refugees in Tigray, Ethiopia. It is ironic. MAI-AINI, Ethiopia - Alem Teke watched her crops in Eritrea shrivel and die from drought. She braved landmines and escaped being raped by soldiers to save her children from starvation by fleeing across the border to a refugee camp in neighbouring Ethiopia . Alem, a farmer's wife, made it to the Mai-Aini refugee camp in Ethiopia. She was more fortunate than some of her friends who were raped. Like many people fleeing famine that has hit parts of the Horn of Africa, Alem has overcome the odds to escape hunger, but as the world focuses on famine in Somalia, Eritrea suffers in silence. Eritrea, a nation of 5 million people that borders Sudan, Ethiopia and Djibouti, has also seen failed rains and widespread food shortages. But its autocratic government, which faces international sanctions, refuses to acknowledge a drought has swept its territory. Satellite images show that the Red Sea nation has been hit by drought conditions similar to those in Somalia, Ethiopia and Djibouti. Nearly 1,000 Eritreans arrived at a refugee camp in northern Ethiopia in July alone, officials said. Alem has also taken a dangerous political stand by fleeing to Eritrea's archenemy, Ethiopia. The two nations severed ties in 2000 after a brutal border war that killed more than 80,000 people. To return to Eritrea would mean certain punishment. Alem said government officials took away the lion's share of last year's harvest. She said they promised to pay but didn't and she couldn't feed her five children anymore. "It was a matter of life and death," said the 40-year-old. "The government bleeds us farmers dry to feed the army. My husband is enlisted and I haven't heard from him in years. I couldn't wait any longer, not while my children were starving." U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs, Johnnie Carson, said last week that many of the Eritrean refugees crossing borders into Sudan and Ethiopia suffer from malnutrition. He urged the reclusive Eritrean regime, led by longtime President Isaias Afwerki, to address the hunger and work with humanitarian organizations to prevent catastrophe. Over the last few years, more than 48,000 Eritreans — most of them young, educated men or soldiers who have deserted the army — have fled to Ethiopia. Some 1,000 Eritreans risk death each month by crossing the border. Among the refugees are large numbers of children sent by their parents to escape future military service. Simon Girmaw, a protection officer for the U.N. refugee agency, said the influx of refugees usually slows dramatically during the rainy season, from mid-June to mid-September, because flowing rivers deny access and farmers are busy preparing for the harvest. But this year, he said, refugees are able to cross the ankle-deep or dry rivers by foot at most places. And many farmers aren't waiting for rains to come this year. Berhane Hailu, who screens refugees for Ethiopia's refugee agency, said an increasing number of Eritreans mention lack of food as their reason for fleeing. One of the refugees, who said he was a statistician at the country's agriculture ministry, said the nation's food supplies are exhausted. He asked to remain anonymous for fear his family would face reprisals — other refugees have cited examples of their families being fined or jailed after their flight — as he painted a picture of spiraling problems in the pariah nation. The statistician said the government has now rationed each family to only 22 pounds (10 kilograms) of grain each month. He said authorities have run out of stock and are trying to import wheat from Sudan, paying with mining revenues, Eritrea's only source of income besides remittances from Eritreans living abroad. Refugees from southern Eritrea said their families haven't been able to buy food from the government for the last three months and that food prices have spiraled. Refugees said a goat is now selling for more than $200 and a cow nearly costs $1,000. Soldiers are paid about $30 a month. And, the statistician said, rains have failed . "If the rains continue to fail, large parts of the country could be hungry in October, when farmers are supposed to harvest most of the staple crops," the statistician said. On top of those problems, the country doesn't receive foreign aid and is sanctioned by the U.N. because of human rights violations. It is also believed to support extremist groups, including Somalia's top militant group, the al-Qaida-linked al-Shabab. The U.N. World Food Program says it hasn't distributed any food in Eritrea since 2005, nor has it received requests for food assistance. Farmer Bereket Zere braved landmines to walk for days across the border to Ethiopia. If he returns, he faces certain punishment for skirting the military service that is required of all men and women. "I realized there's no use in staying," said the 21-year-old. "I was waiting to be enlisted in the army, there was no work, and, even if rains come, there will be hardly any harvest this year." Another refugee, teacher Gebrehiwot Zere, said the food problems were the last straw for him. He said he was already exhausted by economic hardship and the country's authoritarianism before he decided to take the journey that requires travelling by night, hiding in bushes during daytime, and creeping through hostile areas where soldiers have been instructed to shoot at anything that runs. Some refugees have described crossing one of the minefields near the border, where the soldiers don't patrol, as the safest option. "That's why most who make it are young and strong," Gebrehiwot said. "If the drought continues, young children and elderly will be in trouble: There is no escape for them."

Berbera is not a good choice. Silanyo has done absolutely nothing to upgrade the road link from Ethio-Somaliland boarder to Berbera. The port itself needs major renovation , a task senile Silanyo is oblivious to. The Ethiopian government decided last week to award the nation’s promising energy prospects down in the ****** Basin to a Hong Kong based company, following the departure of the Carigali Overseas Operation last year. Petronas’ exit from its explorations bid in the ****** and Gambella areas, after spending 350 million Br, remains disputable whether it was prompted due to security concerns, or its management decisions. Nonetheless, the Ministry of Mines (MoM) had issued an international tender in March 2011, inviting prospective developers with a bid to win concessions over Ethiopia’s oldest identified natural gas reserves. Bearing closer resemblance, a Chinese company, PetroTrans Company Ltd, was awarded the concession last week, beating six other bidders, including South West Energy (SWE), which has blocks in the south eastern part of Ethiopia at the exploitation stage; the National Oil Company (NOC) of Ethiopia, largely owned by Mohammed Ali Al-Amoudi (Sheikh); and Cobramar of Seychelles. “Out of the three companies [which submitted their bids], PetroTrans has made the best proposal,” read a statement issued by the ministry on Friday, July 22, 2011, after the signing of the concession for 25 years. Sinkinesh Ejigu, minister of MoM, signed the exploration and production sharing agreement at the Sheraton with John Chine, chairman and president of PetroTrans. PetroTrans, established in 1997, is involved in an upstream oil and gas industry, and leases oil and gas development projects. The company has experiences with oil and gas development in China, Indonesia, Kazakhstan and Yemen, with portfolios including the 53 billion dollars China-Saudi Arabia gas development agreements, signed in 2003, and the 4.28 billion dollars Petrokazkhstan acquisition venture, in 2005. The agreement signed at the Sheraton last week adds four blocks, stretching 96,000 square kilometres (sqkm), to the company’s global portfolios. The concessions transferred to PetroTrans are exploration blocks 3 and 4, 11 and 15, 12 and 16, and 17 and 20, which were under Petronas, a Malaysian oil giant eyeing to invest 1.9 billion dollars. PetroTrans has agreed to invest close to four billion dollars in order to develop the gas fields of Calub and Hilal, and explore petroleum in the area. The company has agreed to pay a total of 130 million dollars in 10 years for predevelopment costs incurred in the gas fields, which have an initial reserve of gas estimated to reach 76 million cubic metres. The government has projected this to increase by 100pc by the end of 2014/15, from its 20pc potential now, intending a 20pc annual increase, according to the Growth and Transformation Plan (GTP). The amount the Chinese company has agreed to pay for the predevelopment is considered the highest amount that has been paid for a concession of blocks, sources at the ministry disclosed. Petronas has paid 80 million Br for the predevelopment of the area. Before being forced to leave only after drilling a well at Genale and Hilala, Petronas was to invest in building a gas treatment plant and constructing a gas pipeline to the port of Djibouti. The Chinese company is also to develop the field in three years, building gas transport infrastructure and processing facilities. The pipelines are planned to cross the ****** Desert and reach Berbera Port in Somaliland, for exports via ships. “We believe that there is huge potential that goes beyond satisfying the domestic demand,” said Chine after the signing of the agreement. “The speed at which Chinese companies work is indisputable and shown by the 8,200km pipeline is constructed in just two years. Our company will also accomplish this in a few years.” As the major work which demands huge investment has already been done by different oil companies which did not make it to the production stage, PetroTrans is in a privileged position to do the rest, an expert well informed on the project and with vast experience in the industry, told Fortune. “It is only expected to establish a plant with all the machinery necessary for production,” he said. A number of international companies have carried petroleum exploration and well completion works after the gas fields were first discovered in 1973, by Tenneco, an American company. Subsequent to the change of the Imperial regime in the mid-1970s, and after the end of war between Ethiopia and Somalia, the concession was granted to Soviet Petroleum Exploration Expeditions (SPEE), which had confirmed the gas reserves during the Derge regime. Following the collapse of the military government, Calub Gas SC, a local company in which the majority of the shares were owned by the government, was established in 1995, with an initial capital of 102 million Br. Managed by the able Jihad Abaqoyas, the company was established to conduct explorations and exploitations of natural extraction in the energy sector; it was dissolved in 2005. The concessions in ****** were granted to a Jordanian company, SITech International, which had made no meaningful progress on the project when its executive disappeared in 2006, despite their promise to invest 1.7 billion dollars. The federal government commissioned the Chinese Zhoungyan Petroleum Exploration Bureau (ZPEB); it was this company that has made the eight wells in the two sites ready for exploitations. Ethiopia has come a long way since the 1970s in its dream of producing energy from the ******, with little success to date. “Today’s agreement will ensure the implementation Ethiopia's vision” said Sinkinesh during the signing of the agreement. By MAHLET MESFIN FORTUNE STAFF WRITER

Wait wait wait ...is that Somaliland I see in a distant ? No, it is a mirage.

http://thecitizen.co.tz/sport/16-football/12741-13-red-sea-players-go-missing.html Monday, 11 July 2011 21:24 digg By Majuto Omary The Citizen Reporter Dar es Salaam. The Cecafa-organised competitions are always fascinating events as they constantly supply moments of drama, brilliance and absurdity as the council has no idea of the whereabouts of 13 members of Red Sea of Eritrea. They literally disappeared shortly after their quarter-final match of the just concluded Kagame Castle Cup, the Tanzania Football Federation (TFF) confirmed yesterday. TFF secretary general Angetile Osiah admitted that they are also in the dark as to where the Eritrea team players could be. Osiah said the Red Sea members failed to return to Eritrea with the rest of the squad and might be seeking asylum in one of the East and Central African countries. “We have informed the immigration authorities about the matter, we are optimistic they will arrest them, it’s very disappointing,” he said. They are among the 25 members of the Eritrea squad who were in the country to compete in this year’s Kagame Castle Cup, which came to an end on Sunday at the National Stadium. The TFF official said the players did not return to Lunch Time Hotel, Ubungo where they were booked after their final group stage match last week.There have been no reports or statements from the neighbouring countries about the whereabouts of them so far.

South Sudan's independence drive received positive response from North Sudan. Eritrea's independence was facilitated by Ethiopia under Meles. He sent a letter to then UN Secretary General, Boutros Boutros Ghali, informing him of Ethiopia's willingness to accept Eritrea as a new nation. . Somaliland though is not getting similar approval from Somalia. Until and unless Mogadishu signs on your independence aspiration, there is nothing you can do except ....

Didn't K'Naan sing for Haitians? Why is he not singing for Somalis?

Arabs are sadistic. Look what they are doing to each other in Iraq , Lebanon and Libya. They have money but no brain. They are still in the stone age. The only thing they donate to Africans is Wahabist Madrasah and Al Shabab.

It is sad and cruel. Where is the Somali Diaspora? DADAAB, Kenya — Malnutrition stole most of Habibo's eyesight and left the 1-year-old close to death. Medical personnel tried to pump life back into the toddler, but she only moved when her stomach fitfully spasmed. As her mother tried to feed her, her frail hands tried to resist the small cup placed between her lips. "My prayer is 'God, heal my daughter,'" said Habibo's mother, Marwo Maalin, in a resigned tone earlier this week. East Africa's drought is battering Somali children, hundreds of whom have been left for dead on the long, dry journey to the world's largest refugee camp. UNICEF on Thursday called the Somalia drought and resulting refugee crisis "the most severe humanitarian emergency in the world." The international Red Cross also warned that one in 10 children in southern Somali suffer from acute malnutrition. Thousands of Somalis are walking days and sometimes weeks to reach the refugee complex known as Dadaab, in hopes of finding food. But the journey is claiming untold numbers of children as victims. Young, lifeless bodies abandoned by their parents lie on the sandy path to the camp. In other cases parents perish during the journey, leaving children in the wilderness, alone. UNICEF says that more than a half million Somali children face life-threatening conditions with long-lasting consequences for their physical and mental development. For example, Habibo was suffering from a lack of vitamin A, which can lead to permanent blindness, according to Dr. Luana Lima of Medecins Sans Frontieres which was treating her. The U.N.'s refugee agency says about 40 percent of the Somali children arriving at Dadaab are malnourished. "We are finding children who are arriving in very poor conditions. It is clear that families are waiting until the last moment to leave their homes, once they exhausted all their resources," said Allison Oman, a UNHCR nutritionist. Somalia's most dangerous militant group, al-Shabab, began banning aid groups from operating in the territories it controls in southern Somalia in mid-2009. Because of the severity of need in Somalia, though, the al-Qaida-linked group this month dropped the ban and said aid groups could return. On Wednesday, UNICEF made what appears to be the first outside aid drop by air to the al-Shabab-controlled town of Baidoa, flying in 5 metric tons of food, clean water equipment and medicine. The agency said the health supplies would provide materials for 10 health facilities and reach up to 100,000 people over three months. "We are ready to work anywhere in Somalia, provided we get unhindered access to reach the most vulnerable children in need" said Rozanne Chorlton, the UNICEF representative to Somalia. UNICEF has been operating in south-central Somalia, including Baidoa, but hadn't been able to use the airstrip. However, UNICEF spokeswoman Iman Morooka said that it coordinated with the community there, including elders and civil society members, and that they received clearance from "local authorities" for a flight to land there. Asked if "local authorities" was a euphemism for al-Shabab, Morooka said yes. Back at Kenya's Dadaab camps – a sprawling complex filled with makeshift homes of sticks and tarps – more than 380,000 people have crammed into a camp built for just 90,000. An already built camp that can house about 40,000 people, named Ifo, lies unused. Kenyan Prime Minster Raila Odinga visited the camp Thursday and said it would be allowed to open. A UNHCR official at Dadaab, Fafa Attidzah, said the government's change in position was a big relief. "We are just happy and again we are thankful and we are grateful to the Kenyan government and to the Kenyan people for having allowed these refugees who are suffering to have a little bit of dignity by having somewhere they where they could be accommodated" Attidzah said. Andrew Wander, a spokesman for Save the Children, said his agency provides care to more than 300 unaccompanied children who were found on roadsides after their parents died or abandoned them. More children have died in Dadaab in the first four months of the year than all of last year. More than 1,000 people are arriving here every day in search of help. They are funneled to the Dagahaley camp, where MSF's facility is receiving 15 malnourished children a day. The facility director, Dr. Edward Chege, said 13 children died of malnutrition in the hospital last month alone, the highest one-month toll since MSF opened its doors here in 2009. "Dagahaley camp is going through a nutritional emergency," said Chege. "There is a fear that if the rate remains the same we may not get spaces to accommodate all these children."

It is as relevant on Somalia online as it is on Ethiopia online. If you didn't want to read it, all you had to do was NOT Click on the link. Well, it's too late now.

As peacekeepers, of course. What did you think? Ethiopia Begins Deploying Troops to Disputed Abyei Region Addis Ababa - The Ethiopian government has begun deploying its troops to monitor the troubled North - South Sudan frontier of Abyei region, a military official said on Wednesday. The decision to deploy peace keepers to the volatile region was reached after leaders from North and South Sudan - under the broker of the African Union - signed an agreement last month in Addis Ababa to fully demilitarise the central region and to allow an Ethiopian peacekeeping force to move in to monitor Abyei. Following the agreement, the UN Security Council (UNSC) days later approved the deployment of a 4,200 strong Ethiopian peace keeping force to monitor the withdrawal of troops from Abyei. Speaking on state-run Ethiopian Television, Logistics Main Department Head with the Ministry of National Defense, and Major General Gezahagn Abera on Wednesday said that necessary logistics had been transported to Abyei on 8 July. Abera said he is confident that the peacekeeping force will fulfil its responsibilities to the satisfaction of all concerned parties, citing previous missions in the Horn of Africa. Ethiopia has in the past deployed troops for similar missions in South Korea, Rwanda, Burundi, Liberia, and Democratic Republic Congo. It currently has also over 2,400 troops deployed in Darfur. According to the UN resolution the Ethiopian force has the mission of demilitarising activities in and around Abyei and ensuring peace in the region for at least the next six months. It will be engaged mainly in protecting civilians, maintaining a buffer zone and also to create peaceful environment that will allow conducting referendum on the contested region of Abyei.

Liqaye;733954 wrote: loool "as ancient as the beatles"

AfricaOwn;733936 wrote: You're not who you say you are. Who did I say I was? Remind me please.

Yes, Adal did exist, a tributary Sultanate to Abyssinia (if it suits you). There is no argument there. The Somaliland thing though is as ancient as the Beatles.

Awdal did exist during the days of ancient Ethiopian Emperors. Somaliland is a different story. But I like myths. So tell me more.

I thought Somaliland was the creation of colonial Britain. I didn't know it existed during the time of ancient Ethiopian Emperors. My Bad.

Xaaji Borat, The fact that you are questioning the inclusion of a few villages in the map of Awdal leads neutral observers to conclude that you see a possibility of Awdal opting out of the enclave and that you are fretting about a border dispute ensuing. This could all be averted if Silanyo stops punishing Awdal community just because they didn't vote for him. Jacaylbaro, Ethiopia has survived the loss of Eritrea and its historical ports. It can handle losing Somaliland as well. The reverse may not be true though. Somaliland, as well as Puntland, are unlikely to survive Ethiopia's loss. This was made abundantly clear in 2006 when Islamic Courts Union pushed all the way to Galkayo and were just a pissing distance from Garowe. The Buhoodle incident of two years ago and Admiral Osman's boys walk thru Somaliland (undeterred) make it clear that Somaliland troops/security forces are not ready for prime time.

Ever since Silanyo came to power, the people of Awdal have been marginalized. Awdal is the home base of former President Riyale. It is also one of the oldest settlements in the region. In the last election Silanyo received no support there. As revenge, he has totally neglected the region. If things don't change very soon there is a real possibility that Awdal may opt out of the enclave. The question is can Somaliland survive losing Awdal?

Nonsense. I don't think the Ethiopian government was or is afraid of allowing journalist in region 5, just as it wasn't afraid of allowing humanitarian organizations in there. Reuters journalist was in the region recently. BBC was reporting from the region just yesterday regarding the drought and the influx of Somalia refugees coming in to the country. But what xabashis will not allow is a pseudo journalist in the company of a terrorist organization violating their sovereignty.

I am sure you would be singing a different tune if a couple of Italian "journalists" entered Somaliland SSC from Puntland in the company of SSC "freedom fighters" to propagate about the "plight" of SSC inhabitants. Xaaji Borat, those who live in glass houses shouldn't throw stones..

Cakaara TV has an amazing video footage and reportage of the two Swedish "journalists" in the company of Osman's boys. The video chronicles the Swedes' journey from Nairobi, to Galkacyo , then the border and pass the border where they met a hell of bullets from the gallant Ethiopian security forces. It also shows one of the Swedes shooting an Ak-47. They are clearly weapon trained "journalists". http://www.cakaaranews.com