Land Soldier,no one has stolen any land...the Production Sharing agreement has been negotiated so that the government receives a high % of royalties plus production bonuses...do you expect these companies to do it all for nothing!!

Africa Oil have spent many millions and a number of years to get this data with approval from both PL administrations and the TFG yet they are still deemed "illegal" every other country in the world develops its natural resources so its people can prosper and develop its economy...so what makes Somalia so special?? it seems the problem is everyone has their own claim to them and so nothing is developed...I'm not a fan of Faroole but he was right when he asked what was the point in fighting over rocks and sand while the nation suffers

Puntland’s Situational Irony Abdurahman Faroole, Puntland’s leader, has declared war on alshabaab. This came after the Galgala clashes where a militia commander by the name of Atom fought with PIS forces. Faroole’s frustration with an armed militia so close to Puntland’s largest, and commercial center, Boosaaso is understandable. The fact Atom and his militia have shabaabi leaning is also a major concern for Faroole given the fact that alshabaab has gained control over large areas in the south, and continue to spearhead the war against the transitional government. Many people object alshabaab primarily because of their agenda, which suggest that they have ambitions beyond Somalia. They are connected to outside organizations that are clearly in global fight against current western powers, alshabaab oponents argue. The reason alshabaab does not heed calls of dialogue and refuse to enter negotiation with their opponents, they say, is because alshabaab alone cannot alter the direction of the fight in Somalia. Organizations such as Usaam’s Alqaida have a say in what alshabaab does, hence alshabaab is beholden to a global agenda that transcends current tussle in Mogadishu. Faroole more or less indicted alshabaab on similar basis and many including this author readily agree with him on this. The problem with Faroole however is the fact that the Puntland he leads tolerates the presence of foreign backed armed militia. It tolerates PIS. PIS as widely acknowledged have been fathered by Bush’s war on terror. It is an entity that is funded, trained and supervised by foreign entities. It gets its orders directly from foreign entities. If alshabaab are remote controlled from Afghan mountains, PIS are managed by western intelligence agencies. Why would Faroole then cry about alshabaab, which I totally understand the threat they pose to the stability of Somalia, and yet cave in (or worse adopt to be in cahoots with) to the menace that is PIS? I understand Faroole attempted to reform this entity but as the Galgala conflict makes clear his attempt could be described as a half measure that fell short of taking full control of Puntland’s intelligence work. And that is irony indeed. To address it, PIS shall be done away with . I doubt you would be calling for it to be disbanded if you lived in these areas...so easy for you guys living in your comfy western socities

"Believe" chief not belief

seems that everyone with a gun can have an opinion on how a state/counrty can be run and no one wants to take direction from anyone outside of thier own clan...no wonder the whole country is a mess...chaos and anarchy rule a once proud nation why vote Faroole in knowing he was corrupt? did the same people expect a leopard to change its spots? sometimes you don't always get what you bargained for if the people have lost faith in his leadership then it needs to be challenged and a new president put in his place

Not half as desperate as the stuff u girls post on here

Violence and Fraud Being Injected into the Somaliland Presidential Election Process Written by Defense & Foreign Affairs Thursday, 20 May 2010 15:50 The delicate security situation in and around the Horn of Africa by mid-May 2010 began to get dramatically worse, with the potential for major problems for the international sea trade - particularly in energy products and manufactures - through the Red Sea/Suez sea lanes, as a result of major foreign involvement in major, and imminent, elections in Somaliland and Ethiopia. Arguably, the situation in Somaliland is the less stable of the two situations, although they are directly linked, given their contiguous borders, and the fact that Somaliland is now the key overland trade link for Ethiopia to Red Sea shipping. Moreover, actions in Somaliland in the second week of May 2010 showed an intensity which has all but overturned the prospect for free and fair elections, and has heightened the possibility that the election could be hijacked by pan-Somalists who would return the stable region to a union with Somalia, which is presently without any meaningful government. Terrorist actions inside Ethiopia continued to escalate in the run-up to the May 23, 2010, Parliamentary elections, with a number of direct incidents inside Ethiopian territory involving Eritrean troops. There has been a build-up of Ethiopian Defense Force (EDF) personnel near the Eritrean border in Tigré Province, among other areas, checking particularly for incursions and to determine whether land-mines or improvised explosive devices (IEDs) have been lain during the night by Eritrean personnel. At least one landmine was found by a Chinese road construction company on May 11, 2010, 7km outside Sheraro on the road to Humera near Shire Endaselassie, in Tigré. Clashes since the beginning of May 2010 in Ethiopia’s ethnically Somali region — which the Somalis call the ****** and which was once the Harerge province of Ethiopia — between EDF personnel and (now more importantly) the Regional Special Police Force (RSPF) against insurgents of the ****** National Liberation Front (ONLF) have ramifications not only for Ethiopia but also for Somaliland. The ONLF is supported by the Eritrean Government and had links with al-Ittihad al-Islami, which has subsequently — with the effective disintegration of al-Ittihad — become blurred with the Somali al-Shabaab group, which is in turn supported by elements of the al-Qaida movements, and, more surreptitiously by the Iranian Government. Significantly, the ONLF has consistently undertaken armed warfare against Somaliland as well as Ethiopia. Two senior ONLF commanders were reported killed in early May 2010 in clashes with the RSPF in the Korahe and Warden zones of the Ethiopian Somali region, although one of those killed had apparently been mis-identified by the RSPF, and later called the BBC Somali service to say that he had not been killed. FREE Breaking Investment & Geopolitical Intelligence - Previously only available to Governments, Intelligence Agencies & selected Hedge Funds. Click here for more information on our Free Weekly Intelligence Report On the whole, however, the Meles Government has the security situation largely under control inside Ethiopia, and was totally prepared for the uptick in security incidents from Eritrea and Eritrean-sponsored organizations in the country. This is the fourth general election which the Meles Zenawi EPRDF Government has faced, and, if anything, it is well geared toward any escalation which might lead to a renewed open conflict with Eritrea. Indeed, the one major embarrassment for the Meles Government is that it helped create the Eritrean crisis, because of the longstanding Meles relationship with Eritrean leaders Isayas Afewerke while the Dergue was still in power in Ethiopia (1974-1990), and before Eritrea was independent. Essentially, many Ethiopians blame Prime Minister Meles for giving Eritrea independence from Ethiopia in 1993, only to have Eritrea then become hostile to, and invade, Ethiopia. Today, however, Eritrea is militarily and economically weak, and has enlisted considerable aid from such allies as Egypt to enable it to sustain hostility against Ethiopia, containing it as a landlocked state. However, because of the landlocked status which Ethiopia now has since it gave independence to Eritrea, and included in Eritrean territory some Ethiopian lands and ports which had never historically been Eritrean, Ethiopia is now heavily dependent on the stability and goodwill of Djibouti and Somaliland (former British Somaliland). Somaliland’s Presidential elections had been due to be held in 2009, but were delayed due to a total breakdown in the voter registration system. For some time, some members of the Somaliland Election Commission, have become financially compromised to a mix of opposition groups and external influences, notably from the Interpeace movement which is effectively a self-sustaining non-governmental organization (NGO), but which claims association with the United Nations. Interpeace, mainly through its offices in Nairobi, has been funding opposition parties and — possibly indirectly — individuals within the Election Commission. As well, Interpeace funded the provision of new “biometric voter registration cards”, which it had made for the Commission in South Africa. Interpeace recently gave the opposition officials and the National Election Commission (NEC) officials with whom it had a relationship an ultimatum. Either ensure that a Presidential election was scheduled to be held before the end of July 2010, or Interpeace would cut off its secret funding and other support. The Election Commission came out with a call, in early May 2010, for the Presidential election to be held on June 26, 2010, Somaliland’s national day. Somaliland Pres. Dahir Rayale Kahin, of the Unity of Democratic Alliance (UDUB) Party, not wishing to be seen as the obstacle to elections — for which Somaliland’s foreign supporters, particularly the US, UK, France, and the EU generally had been pushing — agreed to the date, even though it gave the Government less than six weeks to prepare for the event. The major problem was that the voter rolls had been heavily tampered with because Interpeace had been given a contract by its colleagues in the Electoral Commission to prepare them. At the same time, the “biometric” voter registration cards began being distributed — and are now continuing to be distributed — throughout the country. What has emerged, however, is that the cards are by no means “biometric” or secure, and they have been distributed with a clear intent to create a fraudulent result. Some individuals have been issued with 17 or more cards, enabling multiple votes from a single individual, for example. Interpeace and some of the key opposition figures reacted swiftly, vigorously, and with hostility when the Somaliland media received a leaked copy of the confidential Defense & Foreign Affairs Special Analysis of April 21, 2010, carrying the report entitled Somaliland’s Presidential Election Assumes Growing Priority as Major Powers Sense Strategic Urgency of the Horn Situation. This report made it clear that there was an improper relationship between Interpeace — whose members have been linked to organized manipulation of elections and insurgency groups in the Balkans, and elsewhere — and opposition politicians in Somaliland. As well, the report made it clear that some opposition politicians were not only linked with the policies and actions of the al-Shabaab terrorist group in neighboring Somalia, but had also advocated either a pan-Somalist outcome for the area — in other words having stable and peaceful Somaliland rejoin war-torn Somalia — or the introduction of shari’a law as the governing law of Somaliland. All of this puts the US State Department, and the European governments supporting Somaliland, in a difficult position, having so strenuously pushed Pres. Kahin to re-schedule the Presidential elections at an early date, to be followed rapidly by Parliamentary elections for the House of Representatives (lower house) and the House of Elders (upper house). None of the major governments with a vital interest in Somaliland — including those regional states hostile to it, such as Eritrea, Egypt, and Somalia, which see Somaliland as a vital lifeline for Ethiopia — can been seen to call for a delay in the Presidential election until basic transparency and security can be restored to the voting system. On the other hand, the present conditions pave the way for an absolute hijacking of the election on June 26, 2010. Moreover, numerous opposition sources have made it clear to GIS/Defense & Foreign Affairs that they will not rely solely on being able to hijack the ballot, and were ready for major street action and other destabilizing incidents to ensure that the ruling UDUB party did not win the election. Not only is Somaliland in a key position in the counter-piracy conflict which is based out of the neighboring Puntland region of Somalia, it is vital to the world trading community’s control of the Red Sea and adjacent maritime region. There are also considerable oil and other mineral reserves at stake in Somaliland territory, and the Somaliland port of Berbera, for example, is to be a key node in the major Internet cable which would link the African East Coast with the high-speed global systems. At the same time, the People’s Republic of China (PRC) is also pushing its naval presence into the region, as well as into the Persian Gulf, for the first time since the Ming Dynasty 600 years ago, something which has not gone unnoticed in Washington. How long will Beijing ignore Somaliland? That is, assuming Somaliland remains intact after the June 26, 2010, Presidential election. http://oilprice.com/Geo-Politics/Africa/Violence-and-Fraud-Being-Injected-into-the-Somaliland-Presid ential-Election-Process.html

Rudy are you sure you are not the one directing them? LMAO...funniest thing I've read all day

Post of the month Hales well said keep it up Ü

where is the accountability??? you can commit a crime today....say "sorry, i won't do it again" tomorrow and you will be absolved no crime should go unpunished

Xudeedi it's ALL about timing there is no doubt the current admin lead by Faroole & Ilko are now Implementing strategies to combat piracy & improve security but I have no doubts that they were complicit in undermining the previous administration to gain the power they now have.. Politics is a dirty game & they used their pirate connections as a means to and end and are now trying to distance themselves from the past ..but history has a funny way of catching up with everyone how is it that a rank outsider won the election last year? If the PIS needed reform why wait until now? After the first 100 days in office report, why have we not heard more re: progress & transperancy? More questions than answers I'm afraid

Somalia: Puntland's leader says UN report is 'politically motivated' 22 Mar 22, 2010 - 12:52:30 PM BOSSASO, Somalia Mar 22 (Garowe Online) - The president of Somalia's Puntland State government has condemned a new report by the U.N. Monitoring Group on Somalia, saying that the report is "full of insults," Radio Garowe reports. Puntland President Abdirahman Mohamed "Farole" held a press conference Monday at the presidential palace in Bossaso, Puntland's commercial hub located along Gulf of Aden shores. The president led a government delegation from the state capital Garowe yesterday by road and spent Sunday night in Qardo, the capital of Karkar region. President Farole of Puntland waving to Bossaso crowd/Mar 22, 2010 The president's delegation includes: Interior Minister Gen. Abdullahi Jama "Ilkajir"; Finance Minister Farah Ali Jama; Security Minister Yusuf Ahmed Kheir; and Ports Minister Said Mohamed Rageh, a member of the former Adde Muse administration whom was reappointed by President Farole in last month's Cabinet reshuffle. While in Qardo, President Farole's delegation met with local officials, community leaders and intellectuals who briefed the government delegation on local developments and expressed the community's needs. The president said that the administration is focused on improving security but has plans to invest in social sector and economic development as well. Farole (center) with Fin. Mins. Jama (left) and Sec. Mins. Kheir (right)/Mar 22, 2010 On Monday morning, the president's delegation proceeded northward and ate breakfast with provincial and police officials at the Armo Police Academy, which is located in Armo district in Bari region. The newly appointed governor of Bari region, Sheikh Abdihafid Ali Yusuf, was present for the breakfast. Welcome euphoria Puntland's presidential motorcade roared into the port city of Bossaso midday today, with officials, community leaders and members of the public lining up along the paved road waving flags as the delegation passed through. A reporter on the scene described the euphoria surrounding President Farole's arrival in Bossaso was "comparable to his first trip to Bossaso after winning the January [2009] election." Puntland security forces in Bossaso/Mar 22, 2010 The president is expected to shore up domestic support in Bossaso, as his administration faces mounting international pressure on the piracy issue. Most recently, the UN Monitoring Group on Somalia mandated with monitoring the 1992 arms embargo on Somalia issued a highly controversial 110-page report to the UN Security Council. The report makes allegations that the UN's World Food Program (WFP) awarded multi-million-dollar contracts to Somali businessmen who fund insurgents, and that officials in the Transitional Federal Government (TFG) profited from selling foreign visas given to TFG delegations visiting foreign capitals. But Puntland President Farole responded directly to allegations made in the report that Puntland's top leadership profits financially from pirate ransoms. 264 pirates jailed Puntland's president condemned the Monitoring Group on Somalia's new report, saying that the writers drafted the report "without ever coming to Puntland." The report's authors admit that they only visited parts of Somalia – namely, they visited Hargeisa and Berbera in Somaliland, a separatist republic in northwest Somalia; and briefly in Mogadishu, where TFG President Sheikh Sharif Ahmed is protected by African Union peacekeepers. "Puntland has actively fought against pirates and we have 264 pirates or suspected pirates currently in jail," President Farole said, adding: "But our efforts – the people and government of Puntland – are rewarded by condemnation and insults against Puntland's leadership." He noted that French naval forces on anti-piracy patrols transferred over to the Puntland government "30 suspected pirates" this month alone, adding that "most of these men hail from the Harardhere area." Harardhere is a coastal district in the southern part of Mudug region, where pirates currently hold a number of foreign ships and their crews for ransom. The UN Monitoring Group's reports notes this "shift" of piracy epicenter in recent years from the Puntland town of Eyl further south to Harardhere, a town that falls well outside Puntland's jurisdiction. 'Politically motivated' report The president said the Puntland government has hired advisers to seek legal avenues in light of the report's "outrageous allegations" against top government leaders in Puntland. Observers say Puntland is the principal domestic backbone of the Western-backed TFG and a frontline region against the spread of extremism and terrorism in the Horn of Africa sub-region. Ethiopia, the West's most important ally in the sub-region, maintains strong and cordial relations with the Puntland government. Al Shabaab militants who are fighting to topple the TFG in Mogadishu have failed to infiltrate Puntland, which has been relatively stable since the outbreak of the Somali civil war in 1991. "The report's authors used sources that include politicians who are opportunists or are opposed to Puntland' s self-development," President Farole said, adding: "Even some of the report's authors are politically motivated to discredit Puntland as a way of achieving another hidden goal," President Farole added. One of the report's authors, Mr. Matt Bryden, has familial ties to the dominant clan in Somaliland and is known to have actively campaigned for the recognition of an independent Somaliland. President Farole remarked that Mr. Bryden co-authored "reports critical of Puntland even during his time working for the ICG," a reference to the International Crisis Group, a Brussels-based think tank. Puntland's leader said the UN Monitoring Group's reports makes false allegations that specific "pirate leaders" live free in Puntland. But President Farole denied this. "The man called Baqalyo is currently in Bossaso jail, but the report claims he's out free. Another man named Hanaano is now jailed in Yemen, but again the report says this man is free and lives in Puntland," Farole said. The president said he believes that pirates are able to reform and to reintegrate back to society through social and political support. "The report says the individual named Boyah is a notorious pirate leader. But Boyah admitted to have quit piracy before this administration was elected [in Jan. 2009] and has campaigned with religious leaders to discourage piracy across Puntland," the president added. President Farole said he was "surprised" that the report's recommendations call for international support to build coastguards for the TFG and Somaliland security forces. He said that the TFG has "never captured pirates" and Somaliland "claims to have jailed a few [pirates]." President Farole underscored that the anti-piracy campaign must begin in Puntland where there is a functioning government "that has always opposed ransom payments" and a stable region to build training centers, like the Armo Police Academy which was built with UN support http://www.garoweonline.com/artman2/publish/Somalia_27/Somalia_Puntland_s_leader_says_UN_report_is_p olitically_motivated.shtml

Over 43 people have been killed in the Somali capital of Mogadishu in two days of fighting between Shabab (al-Shabaab) insurgent forces, who on March 10 advanced to within one mile of the nation’s presidential palace, and troops of the U.S.-backed Transitional Federal Government. The fighting has just begun. The last ambassador of the United States to Somalia (1994-1995), Daniel H. Simpson, penned a column for the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette on March 10 in which which he posed the question “why, apart from the only lightly documented charge of Islamic extremism among the Shabab, is the United States reengaging in Somalia at this time?” He answered it in stating “Part of the reason is because the United States has its only base in Africa up the coast from Mogadishu, in Djibouti, the former French Somaliland. The U.S. Africa Command was established there in 2008, and, absent the willingness of other African countries to host it, the base in Djibouti became the headquarters for U.S. troops and fighter bombers in Africa. “Flush with money, in spite of the expensive wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, the Department of Defense obviously feels itself in a position to undertake military action in Africa, in Somalia.” [1] Fulfilling its appointed role, the New York Times leaked U.S. military plans for the current offensive in Somalia on March 5 in a report titled “U.S. Aiding Somalia in Its Plan to Retake Its Capital.” (Note that the Transitional Federal Government is presented as Somalia itself and Mogadishu as its capital.) The tone of the feature was of course one of approval and endorsement of the Pentagon’s rationale for directly intervening in Somalia at a level not seen since 1993 and support for proxy actions last witnessed with the invasion by Ethiopia in 2006. The report began with a description of a military surveillance plane circling over the Somali capital and a quote from the new chief of staff of the nation’s armed forces, General Mohamed Gelle Kahiye: “It’s the Americans. They’re helping us.” Afterward “An American official in Washington, who said he was not authorized to speak publicly” – a hallmark of the American free press – was, if not identified, quoted as maintaining that U.S. covert operations were planned if not already underway and “What you’re likely to see is airstrikes and Special Ops moving in, hitting and getting out.” [2] The New York Times also provided background information regarding the current offensive: “Over the past several months, American advisers have helped supervise the training of the Somali forces to be deployed in the offensive….The Americans have provided covert training to Somali intelligence officers, logistical support to the peacekeepers, fuel for the maneuvers, surveillance information about insurgent positions and money for bullets and guns.” [3] Four days later General William (“Kip”) Ward, commander of United States Africa Command (AFRICOM), testified before the Senate Armed Services Committee. In his introductory remarks the chairman of the committee, Senator Carl Levin, reinforced recent American attempts to expand the scope of the deepening Afghanistan-Pakistan war, the deadliest and lengthiest in the world, to the west and south in stating that “al Qaeda and violent extremists who share their ideology are not just located in the Afghanistan-Pakistan region but in places like Somalia, Mali, Nigeria and Niger.” [4] In his formal report Ward pursued a similar tact and expanded the Pentagon’s “counter-terrorism” (CT) area of responsibility yet further from South Asia: “U.S. Africa Command has focused the majority of its CT capacity building activities in East Africa on Kenya, Ethiopia, Djibouti, and Uganda, which – aside from Somalia – are the countries directly threatened by terrorists.” [5] He also spoke of the current offensive by “the transition government to reclaim parts of Mogadishu,” stating “I think it’s something that we would look to do and support.” [6] Senator Levin and General Ward included eight African nations in the broader Afghan war category of Operation Enduring Freedom, countries from the far northeast of the continent (the Horn of Africa) to the far west (the oil-rich Gulf of Guinea). The U.S. military has already been involved in counterinsurgency operations in Mali and Niger against ethnic Tuareg rebels, who have no conceivable ties to al-Qaeda, not that one would know that from Levin’s comments. In between South Asia and Africa lies Yemen on the Arabian Peninsula. The New York Times report cited earlier reminded readers that “The United States is increasingly concerned about the link between Somalia and Yemen.” Indeed as Levin’s comments quoted above establish, Washington (along with its NATO allies) is forging an expanded war front from Afghanistan and Pakistan to Yemen and into Africa. [7] That extension of the South Asia war has not gone unobserved in world capitals, and earlier this year Russian political analyst Andrei Fedyashin commented: “Adding up all four fronts – if the United States ventured an attack on Yemen and Somalia – America would have to invade a territory equal to three-fourths of Western Europe; and it is hardly strong enough for that.” [8] Strong enough or not, that is just what the White House and the Pentagon are doing. The only other objection that can be raised to the above author’s description is that it too severely narrows the intended battlefront. In the past six months Somali troops have been sent to Djibouti, Ethiopia, Kenya and Uganda for combat training and “most are now back in the capital, waiting to fight.” In addition, “There are also about 5,000 Ugandan and Burundian peacekeepers, with 1,700 more on their way, and they are expected to play a vital role in backing up advancing Somali forces.” [9] Last October the U.S. led ten days of military exercises in Uganda – Natural Fire 10 – with 450 American troops and over 550 from Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania and Uganda. The U.S. soldiers were deployed from Camp Lemonier (Lemonnier) in Djibouti, home to the Pentagon’s Joint Task Force/Horn of Africa and over 2,000 U.S. forces. The de facto headquarters of AFRICOM. At the time of the maneuvers a major Ugandan newspaper wrote that they were “geared towards the formation of the first Joint East African Military Force.” [10] In addition to using such a multinational regional force in Somalia, the U.S. can also deploy it against Uganda’s Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) rebels in Uganda, Congo and Sudan, and could even employ it against Eritrea, Zimbabwe and Sudan, the only nations on the African continent not to some degree enmeshed in military partnerships with Washington and NATO. (Libya has participated in NATO naval exercises and South Africa has hosted the bloc’s warships.) [11] Earlier this month the Kenyan newspaper The East African divulged that “American legislators are pushing for a law that will see another phase of military action to apprehend Lord’s Resistance Army rebels.” The news source added that the LRA Disarmament and Northern Uganda Recovery Bill adopted by the U.S. Congress last year “requires the US government to develop a new multifaceted strategy” and as such the new bill under consideration “will not be the first time the US government is providing support to the Uganda army in fighting the LRA. “The US has been backing the UPDF [uganda People's Defence Force] with logistics and training to fight the rebel group.” [12] Last month it was announced that the U.S. Africa Command has dispatched special forces to train 1,000 Congolese troops in the north and east of their nation, where Congo borders Uganda. Former U.S. diplomat Daniel Simpson was quoted above as to what in part is Washington’s motive in pursuing a new war in and around Somalia: To test out AFRICOM ground and air forces in Djibouti for direct military action on the continent. A United Press International report of March 10, placed under energy news, offered another explanation. In a feature titled “East Africa is next hot oil zone,” the news agency disclosed that “East Africa is emerging as the next oil boom following a big strike in Uganda’s Lake Albert Basin. Other oil and natural gas reserves have been found in Tanzania and Mozambique and exploration is under way in Ethiopia and even war-torn Somalia.” The region is, in the words of the Western chief executive officer of an oil prospecting firm, “the last real high-potential area in the world that hasn’t been fully explored.” [13] The article added: “The discovery at Lake Albert, in the center of Africa between Uganda and the Democratic Republic of Congo, is estimated to contain the equivalent of several billion barrels of oil. It is likely to be the biggest onshore field found south of the Sahara Desert in two decades.” It also spoke of “a vast 135,000-square-mile territory in landlocked Ethiopia that is believed to contain sizable reserves of oil. It is estimated to hold 4 trillion cubic feet of natural gas as well.” And, more pertinent to the Horn of Africa: “A 1993 study by Petroconsultants of Geneva concluded that Somalia has two of the most potentially interesting hydrocarbon-yielding basins in the entire region – one in the central Mudugh region, the other in the Gulf of Aden. More recent analyses indicate that Somalia could have reserves of up to 10 billion barrels.” [14] Washington’s North Atlantic Treaty Organization allies are also deeply involved in the militarization of East Africa. On March 10 NATO extended its naval operation in the Gulf of Aden off the coast of Somalia, Ocean Shield, to the end of 2012, an unprecedentedly long 33-month extension. On March 12 “Standing NATO Maritime Group 2 will take over missions from Standing NATO Maritime Group 1 for the four-month assignment. The change will increase NATO’s contribution from four ships to five ships….” [15] At the same hearings of the Senate Armed Services Committee that AFRICOM commander William Ward addressed, NATO Supreme Allied Commander in Europe, America’s Admiral James Stavridis, “noted that 100,000 NATO troops are involved in expeditionary operations on three continents, including operations in Afghanistan, off the coast of Africa, and in Bosnia.” (Evidently Kosovo was meant for Bosnia.) Stavridis, who is concurrently top military chief of U.S. European Command, said “The nature of threats in this 21st century [is] going to demand more than just sitting behind our borders.” [16] He also said he finds “Iran alarming in any number of dimensions,” specifically mentioning alleged “state-sponsored terrorism, nuclear proliferation and political outreach into Latin America.” [17] NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen recently returned from Jordan and the Persian Gulf state of Bahrain where he pressured both nations to support the war in Afghanistan and Alliance naval operations. “NATO’s top official said [on March 9] that he has asked Jordan and Bahrain to contribute to alliance naval operations fighting terrorism and piracy in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Gulf of Aden, as he ended a visit to the two countries. NATO is keen to improve cooperation with Arab and Muslim states, seeing them as important allies for a number of missions, including the all-important deployment in Afghanistan.” [18] Regarding the Western military bloc’s almost nine-year Operation Active Endeavor in the entire Mediterranean Sea and its Operation Ocean Shield in the Gulf of Aden, Rasmussen said, “We would very much like to strengthen cooperation (with Bahrain and Jordan) within these operations.” [19] While in Jordan he was strengthening military ties with NATO’s Mediterranean Dialogue partnership – Algeria, Egypt, Israel, Jordan, Mauritania, Morocco and Tunisia – and in Bahrain firming up the Istanbul Cooperation Initiative aimed at the six members of the Gulf Cooperation Council: Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. Bahrain, Egypt, Jordan and the United Arab Emirates have military personnel serving under NATO in Afghanistan. In late February a delegation of the 53-nation African Union (AU) visited NATO’s Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe in Mons, Belgium. “NATO continues to support the AU mission in Somalia (AMISOM) through the provision of strategic sea- and air-lift for AMISOM Troop Contributing Nations on request. The last airlift support occurred in June 2008 when NATO transported a battalion of Burundian peacekeepers to Mogadishu.” [20] On March 10 AMISON deployed tanks to prevent the capture of the Somali presidential palace by rebels. The North Atlantic military bloc, which in recent years has conducted large-scale exercises in West Africa and inaugurated its international Response Force in Cape Verde in 2006, also supports “the operationalisation of the African Standby Force – the African Union’s vision for a continental, on-call security apparatus similar to the NATO Response Force.” [21] In May the European Union, whose membership largely overlaps with that of NATO and which is engaged in intense integration with the military bloc on a global scale [22], will begin training 2,000 Somali troops in Uganda. Brigadier General Thierry Caspar-Fille-Lambie, commanding officer of French armed forces in Djibouti, said “the Somali troops will be trained with the necessary military skills to help pacify and stabilize the volatile country.” He issued that statement “at the closing ceremony of four-week French operational training of 1,700 Ugandan troops to be deployed” to Somalia in May. The French ambassador to Uganda said “The EU troops shall work in close collaboration with UPDF to train Somali troops.” [23] The 2,000 soldiers to be trained by the EU will represent a full third of a projected 6,000-troop Somali army. The U.S.-NATO-EU global triad plans an even larger collective military role in the new scramble for Africa. On March 4 and 5 a delegation from AFRICOM met with European Union officials in Brussels “seeking EU cooperation in Africa,” specifically in “areas where cooperation could be possible, notably with the soon-to-be-launched EU mission to train Somali troops.” [24] Tony Holmes, AFRICOM’s deputy to the commander for civil-military activities, said “Somalia, that’s an area where we’re going to be doing a lot more, the European Union is already doing a lot and will be doing more…. “Somalia is very important for us. The European Union is involved in training Somalis in Uganda and that’s something we might be able to work closely with to support.” The AFRICOM delegation, including Major-General Richard Sherlock, director of strategy, plans and programs, also discussed “counter-terrorism cooperation with the EU in the Sahel region, notably in Mauritania, Mali and Niger….” [25] In late January the chairman of NATO’s Military Committee, Admiral Giampaolo Di Paola, said “that the Alliance is in discussion with a Gulf state to deploy AWACS planes for a reconnaissance mission over Afghanistan in support of its ISAF mission and also for anti-piracy off Somalia.” [24] To demonstrate that NATO’s anti-piracy operation off the coast of Somalia has other designs than the one acknowledged, early this year a NATO spokesman announced that the bloc’s naval contingent in the Gulf of Aden “now has an additional task” to intervene against a fictional deployment of Somali fighters across the Gulf to Yemen. The spokesman, Jacqui Sheriff, said “NATO warships will be on the lookout for anything suspicious.” [25] As though Somali al-Shabaab fighters have nothing else to do as the U.S. is engineering an all-out assault on them in their homeland. Five days after the New York Times feature detailed American war plans in Somalia, the Washington Times followed up on and added to that report. U.S. operations are “likely to be the most overt demonstration of U.S. military backing since the ill-fated Operation Restore Hope of 1992….” “Unmanned U.S. surveillance aircraft have been seen circling over Mogadishu in recent days, apparently pinpointing insurgent positions as the TFG [Transitional Federal Government] marshals its forces. U.S. Army advisers have been helping train the TFG’s forces, which have been largely equipped with millions of dollars’ worth of U.S. arms airlifted into Mogadishu over the last few weeks.” The newspaper report further stated: “It’s not clear when the offensive will start. The word on the street is sometime in the next few weeks….” The campaign has already begun. “After securing Mogadishu, the offensive, supported by militias allied with the government, for now, at least, is likely to continue against al-Shebab in the countryside west and south toward the border with Kenya.” [26] After the capital, the entire country. After Somalia, the region. The war has just begun. http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=18099

So, When the federal government re-takes the capital, we will end up Shariif, Indhocade and co to be our leaders? disaster walaahay. maraykan danta soomalida ma wado. In my opinion, shabaab should be given an oppurtunity to rule entire somalia. They are the only group capable bring SomaliLand and Puntand to the fold. Decay, if they were given the opportunity would you live there??? i doubt it very much

So, When the federal government re-takes the capital, we will end up Shariif, Indhocade and co to be our leaders? disaster walaahay. maraykan danta soomalida ma wado. In my opinion, shabaab should be given an oppurtunity to rule entire somalia. They are the only group capable bring SomaliLand and Puntand to the fold. Decay, if they were given the opportunity would you live there??? i doubt it very much

So, When the federal government re-takes the capital, we will end up Shariif, Indhocade and co to be our leaders? disaster walaahay. maraykan danta soomalida ma wado. In my opinion, shabaab should be given an oppurtunity to rule entire somalia. They are the only group capable bring SomaliLand and Puntand to the fold. Decay, if they were given the opportunity would you live there??? i doubt it very much

It would be nice to read something positive or at least constructive criticism from the Cyber warriors one day (but its easy to be just critical when you're living in the comfy western countries) NAIROBI (Reuters) - Somalia has made progress restoring state institutions and accountability and its administration can now handle more funds directly, the African Union's deputy head of mission to Somalia said. For nearly two decades, the Horn of Africa nation has had no functional central government and its transitional administration controls only sections of the capital Mogadishu. Wafula Wamunyinyi, the deputy special representative for the AU Commission for Somalia, said the government received inadequate direct funding, and that there were still some impediments to them getting more aid. "They were working hard in re-establishing state institutions, coordination and implementation of the plans; they are making progress ... and taking care of the accountability system," he told Reuters in an interview on Wednesday. "They are now making progress, working some specific budgets for the first time, and that kind of thing shows there is a direction ... Then, donors will release the funds to them eventually." Wamunyinyi said the mission had received more than half the $213 million donors have pledged to help restore Somalia's security and public services. International donors agreed last April to provide the money to help Somalia's transitional government and the 5,000 AU troops providing security to the government. "I think over $120 million ... has been directed to trust funds, and some progress has been made on that," Wamunyinyi said, speaking in his office in the Kenyan capital. "The pledges have been flowing until now, I am sure we have received most of the funds." Rebels fighting the transitional government frequently attack the AU troops, who have been able to do little more than protect the city's air and sea ports, its presidential palace and a few strategic blocks in between. Wamunyinyi said more troops from Uganda and Burundi were waiting to be airlifted to bolster their numbers. "These two countries will send an additional battalion each. As soon as the logistical arrangements are done, they will move in," he said. He said the AU's rules of engagement were adequate, and the mission could help the government hold the capital if it decided to push away the rebels. "We are not there to fight on behalf of Somalis. If they keep away the insurgents, that would be very good idea, a good step in the right direction." http://af.reuters.com/article/topNews/idAFJOE61O0CJ20100225

It would be nice to read something positive or at least constructive criticism from the Cyber warriors one day (but its easy to be just critical when you're living in the comfy western countries) NAIROBI (Reuters) - Somalia has made progress restoring state institutions and accountability and its administration can now handle more funds directly, the African Union's deputy head of mission to Somalia said. For nearly two decades, the Horn of Africa nation has had no functional central government and its transitional administration controls only sections of the capital Mogadishu. Wafula Wamunyinyi, the deputy special representative for the AU Commission for Somalia, said the government received inadequate direct funding, and that there were still some impediments to them getting more aid. "They were working hard in re-establishing state institutions, coordination and implementation of the plans; they are making progress ... and taking care of the accountability system," he told Reuters in an interview on Wednesday. "They are now making progress, working some specific budgets for the first time, and that kind of thing shows there is a direction ... Then, donors will release the funds to them eventually." Wamunyinyi said the mission had received more than half the $213 million donors have pledged to help restore Somalia's security and public services. International donors agreed last April to provide the money to help Somalia's transitional government and the 5,000 AU troops providing security to the government. "I think over $120 million ... has been directed to trust funds, and some progress has been made on that," Wamunyinyi said, speaking in his office in the Kenyan capital. "The pledges have been flowing until now, I am sure we have received most of the funds." Rebels fighting the transitional government frequently attack the AU troops, who have been able to do little more than protect the city's air and sea ports, its presidential palace and a few strategic blocks in between. Wamunyinyi said more troops from Uganda and Burundi were waiting to be airlifted to bolster their numbers. "These two countries will send an additional battalion each. As soon as the logistical arrangements are done, they will move in," he said. He said the AU's rules of engagement were adequate, and the mission could help the government hold the capital if it decided to push away the rebels. "We are not there to fight on behalf of Somalis. If they keep away the insurgents, that would be very good idea, a good step in the right direction." http://af.reuters.com/article/topNews/idAFJOE61O0CJ20100225

It would be nice to read something positive or at least constructive criticism from the Cyber warriors one day (but its easy to be just critical when you're living in the comfy western countries) NAIROBI (Reuters) - Somalia has made progress restoring state institutions and accountability and its administration can now handle more funds directly, the African Union's deputy head of mission to Somalia said. For nearly two decades, the Horn of Africa nation has had no functional central government and its transitional administration controls only sections of the capital Mogadishu. Wafula Wamunyinyi, the deputy special representative for the AU Commission for Somalia, said the government received inadequate direct funding, and that there were still some impediments to them getting more aid. "They were working hard in re-establishing state institutions, coordination and implementation of the plans; they are making progress ... and taking care of the accountability system," he told Reuters in an interview on Wednesday. "They are now making progress, working some specific budgets for the first time, and that kind of thing shows there is a direction ... Then, donors will release the funds to them eventually." Wamunyinyi said the mission had received more than half the $213 million donors have pledged to help restore Somalia's security and public services. International donors agreed last April to provide the money to help Somalia's transitional government and the 5,000 AU troops providing security to the government. "I think over $120 million ... has been directed to trust funds, and some progress has been made on that," Wamunyinyi said, speaking in his office in the Kenyan capital. "The pledges have been flowing until now, I am sure we have received most of the funds." Rebels fighting the transitional government frequently attack the AU troops, who have been able to do little more than protect the city's air and sea ports, its presidential palace and a few strategic blocks in between. Wamunyinyi said more troops from Uganda and Burundi were waiting to be airlifted to bolster their numbers. "These two countries will send an additional battalion each. As soon as the logistical arrangements are done, they will move in," he said. He said the AU's rules of engagement were adequate, and the mission could help the government hold the capital if it decided to push away the rebels. "We are not there to fight on behalf of Somalis. If they keep away the insurgents, that would be very good idea, a good step in the right direction." http://af.reuters.com/article/topNews/idAFJOE61O0CJ20100225

FYI jnr The TFG (Yusuf and Geedi) have endorsed the previous agreements with Africa Oil/range How many times do they have to be ratified?? seems like the TFG change leadership roles like underwear so who can keep track With the TFG in tatters ATM i agree with GD and suggest each state look after its own region until a fully functioning recognised body supported by the population comes into existence you can't fix the whole until each part is functioning IMO

http://www.newstimeafrica.com/archives/11959 The for­mer pres­i­dent of Somalia’s semi­au­tonomous regional state of Punt­land Gen­eral Mah­moud Muse Hersi pop­u­larly known as Adde has for the first time dis­closed that key mem­bers of the region’s coastal guards have joined the ram­pant pirates off the coast of Soma­lia. Dur­ing a via phone press con­fer­ence for local media last night Gen­eral Adde said that more marines have joined the pirates and that is a big slap the fight against piracy oper­a­tion by the Punt­land administration. “Our forces left from us and instead they turned into buc­ca­neers this will dimin­ish our efforts to erad­i­cate piracy off the law­less coast of Soma­lia” the for­mer leader lamented. “I am prais­ing reli­gious men and some of the local elders who said no to pirates and refused to sell goods from them” the for­mer pres­i­dent stated call­ing on peo­ple in the Punt­land region to be united against the noto­ri­ous pirates. In other devel­op­ment, the regional min­is­ter for sea­ports and marine resources Abdirisaq Hus­sein Gaaceyte asked inter­na­tional com­mu­nity for more assis­tance to root out pirate-related activ­i­ties along the coast of Somalia. “We are fed up with pirates and ter­ror­ism, both are global prob­lems and Punt­land alone can’t cope with them, so we call on the world com­mu­nity to help us put to an end to piracy off Somali coast” the min­is­ter told reporters in the port city of Bosasso last night. Punt­land is the hotbed for Somali pirates while the sec­ond stran­gle­hold for pirates is said to be Harard­here dis­trict which is about 300 kilo­me­tres north east of the cap­i­tal Mogadishu.

HISTORY

I would have been happy for ANYONE else to win..I highly doubt he will deal with AOC regardless of the progress they have made...he will more than likely line his own pockets and those who made this happen with a big sign on bonus from the Chinese or European oil co. I doubt Pl's natural resources will ever be mined but i hope i'm wrong for the sake of its long suffering people

"Ibti, I doubt you will come to see any Puntland brigade of SOL forth-coming to celebrate the victory of corrupt Faroole... unlike Yey or Ilkajiir the man is very unpopular, no one really likes him, and by that I mean not only in SOL but also out in the real world. Every Puntlander is sad about the outcome today, you will hardly come across anyone celebrating this one, but apparently I am told they celebrated in L.A and few people in Garowe" how niave "fair election!" LOL.. how a rank outsider can win by a landslide smells decidedly fishy ..I'm afraid a leopard never changes its spots and this president will continue on with his corrupt ways IMO..unfortunately somali people are their own worst enemy typified by this latest tradgedy peace out