Challenging Somaliland’s Claim to Sovereignty In a recent discussion on VOA Somali Service arch, Ambassador Abdullahi Adan (Congo) and Bashir Goth eloquently articulated Somaliland’s claim to sovereignty and presented some solid justifications for its secession. These broadly cluster around two distinct themes: first are the grievances against the injustices of the union, comprising the lopsided sharing of government posts and the crimes committed against their people; and secondly are the legal and historical back-ups in support of the secession. These include: the Charter of the former Organisation of African Unity (now the AU) and its provisions on borders; recourse to historical precedents of countries that were formerly united but subsequently broke up; the support of the people of Somaliland for the secession and their inalienable right to self-determination. These are the issues I will respond to in the following sections. 1. Blaming the union for the wrong reasons A number of complaints, some more bitter than others, are often presented by the proponents of secession as being the direct consequences of the union between the North and the South. As examined below, all these complaints have little bases. i) The unfair sharing of government posts For Bashir Goth, the beginning of the disillusionment with the union goes back to union day, and the obscene inequitable sharing of the top posts, in which the South grabbed all the top posts, thus making the union in their eyes not one between two equal partners but practically one between the dominant and the dominated. No doubt this misgiving about the distribution of posts on union is well-founded, but this inequity was as much due to the selfishness and insensitivity of the South as to the immaturity of the members of the days-old Somaliland transitional government headed by Prime Minister Mohamed Ibrahim Egal. A different outcome would no doubt have been possible if only the Northerners persevered and pressed their rightful claims in a more determined and business like manner and not let themselves carried away by the intoxicating rush for union. But you would rarely ever hear a fair, balanced apportioning of the blame. It is always the South, as the Somalis say “wixii xunba Xaawaa leh”. Proponents of secession are however selective about the ups and down s of Somalia’s political history. While they miss no opportunity to point to the downside and the initial raw deal meted out to the North, they rarely ever acknowledge the positive side and how two countries under different colonial administrations for nearly a century were able to integrate so quickly apart from initial understandable teething problems; or how the northerners came to dominate the top echelons of the civil service within a matter of few years; or the fact that Mr. Mohamed Ibrahim Egal himself became the Prime Minister of Somalia in 1967, or that Mohamed Hawaadle Madar, another northerner, was Prime Minister in Siyad Barre’s last government. On this score, the North did not fare any worse than other regions or clans in Somalia. ii) Asymmetrical development Another complaint is that just as the South netted all the top posts, following the union, so they also took the lion’s share of development funds, whether domestic or international, leaving the North starved. It is true that most of the state enterprises established during the early years of Siyad Barre’s military regime were based in the capital. Most were managed by people from the North and whatever benefits accrued from them in terms of employment were open to the population of Mogadishu both southerners and northerners. The most important infrastructural development in the country was the Chinese-built road and that went across the North all the way to Berbera. Worth mentioning also was the cement factory near Berbera, What development can one point to in such regions as Mudug, Bari, Bay, etc.? The fact of the matter is that the country was equal in poverty and underdevelopment. iii) Atrocities against the North The more serious misplaced grievance against the union by its opponents in the North are the atrocities committed by Siyad Barreh’s regime which it is claimed has bushed the people of the North to the point of no return in their aversion to the union. No one in his right mind can fail to empathise with these sentiments and the emotions they raise. Indiscriminate use of force was one that the dictator has adopted in order to stamp any challenge to his rule. The North was not alone in being the object of this policy. The regions in the East were equally subjected to collective punishment for SODAF’s anti-regime activities. These stopped only when SODAF gave up the struggle. Any other region would have been treated similarly should any challenged the dictator was mounted from that quarter. Much as these crimes are heinous, it is not the Union itself which is on trial but those responsible for these crimes who deserve to be indicted at home or at the International Criminal Court. While the union has been a success, bad governance has been the ultimate cause for the collapse of the Somali State. For proponents of secession however, the union and the dictatorial misrule of Siyad Barre are inseparable. iv) Examples of other countries experiences Bad governance, atrocities, genocides and widespread human rights violations have been endemic in other African counties since the 1960s without resulting in secessions. The Hutus killed nearly a million Tutsi when they were ruling Rwanda, and the latter’s militia under Paul Kagame avenged themselves on the Hutus when they in their turn took over the country by force. Although internal fighting over power continues to the present day among these two tribes, neither has threatened secession let alone embark upon it. Mr. Milton Obote and Idi Amin, both former presidents of Uganda, have committed worse crimes against each other’s clan than Mohamed Siyad Barre ever did in Somalia, and still Uganda remains united. In 1980, soon after Zimbabwe’s independence in 1980, Robert Mugabe’s army massacred nearly 20,000 civilians of the minority Matabele tribe, and since then literally destroyed the country and yet the Matebele tribe is as patriotic Zimbabweas as Mugabe’s Shone tribe. Except with few exceptions, each country in African below the Sahara has been dominated politically and economically by one clan or other with the rest marginalised. Unlike Somalia, none of these countries are blessed with a homogenous people, and yet none of their clans or region has sought secession as is the case with a dominant clan in northern Somalia. 11. Somaliland’s right to reclaim its former independence Bashir Goth and Ambassador Abdullahi justified Somaliland’s right to reclaim its former sovereignty on several grounds: recognition of its sovereignty on independence by numerous countries, its past existence as a former colony with recognised boundary; historical precedent of countries that were at one time united but later separated; and the existence of a people called Somaliland their right to self determination. i) Recognition of Somaliland’s sovereignty at independence Ambassador Abdullahi Adan, repeating a common claim among proponents of Somaliland’s independence, asserted that 32 so countries recognised Somaliland on its independence on 26 June 1960. If that was the case, the first country that would have recognised it would have been Britain, the colonial power. It did not do so for the simple reason that it hastened granting independence, in response to the wish of the Somaliland politicians, in order to expedite union with Italian Somaliland on the first of July. This is a simple matter to verify since the records are available in the archives of the Britain’s Ministry of Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs. In those days, I was a student in the UK, freelancing for the BBC Somali Service and I definitely recall the Service announcing congratulatory messages sent by governments on the occasion of Somaliland’s independence, but nothing on recognition. These governments knew that British Somaliland would unite with its sister Italian Somaliland. in a matter of days and hence there would have been no point for them to recognise a state that would only exist a mere 4 days and thereafter disappear altogether as an independent separate country. ii) Colonial borders The Charter of the former Organisation of African Unity regarding the inviolability of colonial borders is often cited, as Bashir did, as giving Somaliland the right to reclaim its former borders and hence its separate status from Somalia. Article 111 para 3 of the OAU Charter adopted in 1963 by its member States calls for “respect for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of each State for its inalienable right to independent existence”. This is further elaborated by resolution 16(1) on the border disputed between African States adopted by the OAU Assembly in 1964. Its operative paragraph 1 and 11 declare the following: 1. Solemnly reaffirms the strict respect by all member statesthe Organization for the principles laid down in paragraph 3 of article III of the Charter of the Organization of African Unity; 2. Solemnly declares that all member states pledge themselves to respect the borders existing on their achievement of national independence. Both article 111 in the Charter and resolution 16(1) as cited above were addressed solely to member States. Clearly, the borders that are to be respected are those of the member States of the OAU (now the AU). Hence they do not apply retroactively to non-existent member States like Somaliland. It should be recalled that this specific article of the Charter and the subsequent resolution were initiated at the behest of Emperor Haile Selassie of Ethiopia as a ploy to ward off Somalia’s claim to large parts of Somali-inhabited territory in Eastern Ethiopia. Haile Selassie was not thinking of Somaliland’s defunct border with Ethiopia but that of Somalia and his country. iii) Historical Precedents Examples of countries that were united at one time and then broke up are often cited, as Ambassador Abdullahi Aden did, as providing clear-cut precedents for Somaliland’s secession from the rest of Somalia. The break-ups of the United Arab Republic between Egypt and Syria in 1957 and Senegambia between Senegal and Gambia in 1989 are the ones often mentioned. If Egypt and Syria, both Arab countries and sharing a common language and cultural ties, can break so can Somaliland from Somalia, as Ambassador Abdullahi put it. What the ambassador has left out, however, is as important if not more so than the similarities he drew case histories of these countries. Those countries voluntarily and amicably agreed to separate which is not the case with Somaliland and Somalia. Indeed, this is what the British Riyale and his delegation last wee when they met last week with the British Foreign Secretary, David Miliband. The background to the union of former British Somaliland and Italian Somaliland somewhat differs from those of the other countries cited. First, the compelling reason that propelled Britain to grant independence to Somaliland was to facilitate its union with Italian Somaliland. The birth of an independent Somaliland State,) with its own flag and constitution, recognised by other countries (more on this later) and preferably becoming a member of the United Nation was not one intended by Britain nor by the internal government of the time headed by Mohamed Ibrahim Egal. Secondly, Somaliland is neither monolithic nor inhabited by people with common aspirations. For a start, the SSC regions consider Somaliland as a defunct bygone colonial construct in which they were no party to it by written or oral agreement, as other clans were, and hence they have even less to do with it now in its revival. Thirdly, there is no possibility that any Somali government and Parliament will ever accede to Somaliland’s wish for secession, now or in the future. There is however room for dialogue on finding ways and means of addressing those genuine concerns of the North within the framework of democratic united Somalia. iv)The mythical Somaliland The names of Somaliland and Somalilanders are invariably invoked by the proponents of secession as if the people in their area are distinct from the rest of the Somali people in Somalia or in other Somali inhabited territories in the Horn. After all, it is only through colonial occupation that these clans found themselves under British rule. Though the ties between any neighbouring clans in former British Somaliland were strong as a result of intermarriage and long historical interactions, these may be secondary to the pull of the ties they hold with their kith and kin across the artificial colonial borders. The dichotomy among the clans in British Somaliland relate to their relations with the colonial power. While some clans had accepted British colonial rule though a protectorate agreement, those in the SSC regions fought them for nearly 21 years and even refused to enter into any agreement with the British. Unlike other counties, the end of British rule in Somaliland was not succeeded by the birth of a state to which its citizens declared their allegiance. Given the strength of Somali nationalism at the time, the immediate unity with Italian Somaliland was their common wish once British colonial rule ended rather than opting for a separate State. And as Britain did so, no Somaliland State has come to existence-only a transitional government headed by Mohamed Ibrahim Egal which disbanded itself after 4 days latler as it completed the union formalities. v) Support for the secession Defenders of Somaliland’s secession rarely ever acknowledge in public the fact that the SSC regions, representing in area almost half of former British Somaliland, are unionists who have no truck with the break-up of Somalia. And when these facts are pressed, their next line of defence is to claim that leading Garaads and other prominent personalities from these regions were participants at the Burco meeting and that they signed to the adoption of the secession declaration in May in 1991. This was also the position adopted by Ambassador Abdullahi Aden . It is true that the late Garaad Abdulqani, as well as Garaad Suleman, did attend the Burcao meetings but only in their own personal capacities and not as mandated delegates from all the clans and regions. As they explained on numerous occasions, they attended the meeting on the understanding that the objective was to restore peace and reconciliation among the northern clans and to consult as a region about their common position in negotiating with the South about the establishment of government that was to replace the ousted Siyad Barre regime Instead, the Burco meeting was high jacked by some extremist secessionist elements who forced on the delegates at gun point the adoption of the declaration of the secession from Somalia. This is of course denied by the advocates of the secession. Whatever the truth about the events that led to the declaration of the secession in Burcao the fact remains that the SSC delegation on their return to a shocked and incredulous public immediately disowned the Burco declaration. Everything they did since then was to distance themselves from the secession and reaffirm their unwavering commitment to the union and Somalia. The entire elders of the SSC, including Garaad Abdulqani and Garaad Suleemaan, played a leading role in the establishment of Puntland in which the SSC regions constitute a central pillar and the Arta TNG government. All this is beside the point as far as the defenders of the secession is concerned, and all that matters is the consent to the Burco declaration by SSC participants as if this consent under duress, as claimed, was cast in stone, representing an inviolable agreement between sovereign parties vi) The Right to Self-determination for secession Ambassador Abdullahi Aden, echoing similar thinking among proponents of secession, invoked the principle of the right to self-determination in support of Somaliland’s separation from Somalia. This right to self-determination is of course enshrined not only in the UN Charter but also in both the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. As interpreted by the UN Human Rights Committee, self determination is “…exemplified by the liberation of peoples from colonialism and by the prohibition to subject people to alien subjugation, domination and exploitation.” In ending its colonial rule in line with this principle, Britain did end its subjugation, domination and exploitation of its Somali subjects when it granted them independence in 1960 for the purposes of uniting with their brothers in Italian Somaliland. But it would be a perverse interpretation or understanding of this principle to invoke it and claim that the people in Somaliland had been, or are presently being subjected to alien subjugation, domination and exploitation by their fellow Somali clans in the South The logical conclusion is that all Somali clans are alien to one another and each can in its turn invoke the principle of self-determination if it wants to go its own way. This is a prescription for the end of the nation state as we know it. Self-determination, if granted, is a double-edged sword, from which Somaliland has as much to gain from it as it may lose. Acting as the devil’s advocate, suppose, as could well happen, the Awdal region were to withdraw, from the current secessionist Somaliland, or a future independent one; will Somaliland then oppose it by force since it is on no moral or legal ground to reject it, being itself the product of self-determination an/or secession in the first place?. Some might consider the example of Awdal as a hypothetical exercise. I beg to differ. But if Awdal’s withdrawal from Somaliland is considered by some as far fetched, one could turn to a more realistic and closer case, namely the SSC regions. While Somaliland never tires to claim self-determination as if it was its own preserve, it would at the same time deny it to the SSC regions. Worse, it went to the extent of invading and occupying Sool and its capital Lascanod. Nothing could make a mockery of this principle than this blatant double standard. vii) Seeking SSC support through persuasion Somaliland had a choice between the use of force in capturing the recalcitrant SSC regions or relying on persuasion and patience in winning over the hearts and minds of its people. Given the realities in the SSC regions and the opposition to the secession, Somaliland was no longer willing to hold its cherished recognition hostage to the uncertainties of SSC public opinion. And so, in the end, it resorted to naked military force, and occupied Lascanod and much of the Sool region. Apart from the pursuit of short-sighted electoral shenanigans, the occupation of Lascanod was meant to send a message to the international community that it has full control of all the regional capitals of former British Somaliland, something it calculated misguidedly might satisfy the necessary condition for its recognition. It might be physically in control of Lascanod and much of Sool, but as long as the SSC people are opposed to the occupation and secession, even through non-violence, the clear message it conveys is that Somaliland may control or occupy territory but has no support from its population and this is the far more important factor. The international community is now fully aware that nearly 60 percent of Lascanod population are displaced; and that all the traditional leaders (Garaads and Isimos) are either in Garawe or mobilising their people in the interior. Ambassador Aden and Bashir Goth did not say a word about these realities but only a bizarre event which took place in Burco 18years ago. In the end, the will of the people in the SSC regions will trump the military occupation as it did elsewhere in the world. After nearly one and a half years of occupation of Sool, at huge financial cost it could hardly spare, and with the goal of recognition still as far as ever, the time has come for Somaliland to rethink it strategy and policies. For its own sake, and the rest of us, the best course for Somaliland is to undo the damage it did, and withdraw immediately from Sool and Lascanod. That would be more productive than a costly and open-ended occupation of Sool which could lead to war. If that was to happen, the gulf that would divide the SSC people from Somaliland would be unbridgeable for the foreseeable future, a sure way to forfeit a harmonious united people of the North. Source

U.S. Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Hearing US Senate

Northern Somali Unionist Movement (NSUM) Press Release 03 March 2009 For good historical reasons, Somalis are invariably wary of British intentions towards their country, holding them mainly responsible for the curve-up of their homeland in the Horn of Africa in the late 19th Century. Those bitter misgivings have been revived as Britain, taking advantage of the collapse of the Somali government in 1991, has been engaged in new conspiracies against Somalis, this time scheming to breaking up Somalia into its former pre-independence two constituents. Such anxieties are not groundless in the face of mounting evidence all around us. Some sections of the British Parliament and even some members of the government have been openly encouraging the breakaway of the one-clan driven secession calling itself Somaliland while others have been surreptitiously lobbying for its recognition. It is against this background that the self-styled President of the enclave is making an official trip to Britain this week, to be received like a visiting head of a state. According to reliable reports, he is to meet, among others, David Miliband, the British Foreign Minister, and some pro-Somaliland parliamentarians. The British establishment seems to have closed its eyes and ears to the facts and instead chose to suck up to the propaganda of the secessionist enclave and swallow its mendacious claim that all the other clans in former British Somaliland are part of the secession. As the rest of Somalis know, and most of the international community, only the secessionist clan, among the five clans in this region, is supportive of Somalia’s break-up. The rest of the clans and their population, with few exceptions are against the secession. Certainly, the regions that the Northern Somali Unionist Movement (NSUM) represent, namely Sool, Sanaag and Cayn, (SSC), whose population and geographical area represent roughly a third and half respectively of former British Somaliland, have nothing to do with the secession and maintain their inalienable right to remain in Somalia. The usually well-informed Economist newspaper, no doubt relying on credible British Government sources, speaks this week of a possible recognition of the secessionist enclave should the forthcoming election take place peacefully. Many Somalis believe that Britain and the USA have been pressing some of their pliant African government protégés to recognise Somaliland should a propitious opportunity presents itself that would also pave the way for some Western governments, such as Britain to follow suit. Somaliland has been relentlessly hawking its strategic value to the West as a quid pro quo for its recognition. Having fallen for this irresistible offer, both governments, Britain and the USA, seem ready to prise the area from Somalia regardless of the damage they inflict on Somalia’s unity and territorial integrity. No one should be under any illusion that if Somaliland’s recognition ever materialises, it would usher the biggest blunder that the USA and its allies have committed in Somalia. They had been so wrong about Somalia in the past, in particular the USA, and they will be wrong again if they think the Somalis will passively submit to the dismemberment of their country. Western governments may calculate that Somalia has a government only in name but not in office and hence can afford to take liberty with the destiny of the nation for their own ends. They are certainly right about their perception of successive self-serving, dummy Somali governments, cobbled together in foreign countries, whose members are preoccupied with their own personal pecuniary pursuits and the interest of their foreign backers or paymasters. But Britain and the West would be wrong about the Somali people and their response to this crime against their country. They made a similar miscalculation in supporting the Ethiopian invasion of Somalia two years ago and they seem not to have learned the right lesson. The religious/nationalist backlash to this conspiracy against Somalia would eclipse the nation-wide opposition to the Ethiopian occupation. The recent Al-Shabaab suicide bombings in Somaliland are a harbinger of what is to come. This folly would only radicalise the Somalis and present Al-Shabaab a God-sent opportunity to galvanise its Jihaad against what it sees as the enemy of Somalia and Islam. It would be assured of immediate and limitless adherents and followers to its cause. Better not play with fire in Somalia less an unintended conflagration engulfs the Horn along ethnic and religious lines. And beyond the region, the rest of Africa is equally vulnerable to the Pandora Box that would open pursuant to Somaliland’s recognition. Every dissident region or clan in Africa would follow Somaliland’s example. It is for this reason that the African Union is deadly against secession. Honourable Minister, David Miliband, would do well to reflect on these dire consequences and not allow himself carried away by that old colonial instinct of divide and rule. -------------------------------- Northern Somali Unionist Movement (NSUM) is a grass roots Somali organization whose members and supporters hail from Sool, Sanaag and Cayn regions in the Northern regions of Somalia(formerly British Somaliland) and whose clan in these regions do not identify with the one -clan-driven secession calling themselves” Somaliland”. NSUM stands for the promotion of peace and unity among the long-suffering people of Somalia. NSUM

Cheap Smear Campaign by Secessionists Thugs to hide their Incompetence and Criminal Activities. www.buzzle.com/articles/somaliland-the-chronicles- of-chaos-fratricide-conflict-and-mafia-part-iv.htm l www.buzzle.com/articles/somaliland-the-chronicles- of-chaos-fratricide-conflict-and-mafia-part-iii.ht ml www.buzzle.com/articles/somaliland-the-chronicles- of-chaos-fratricide-conflict-and-mafia-part-ii.htm l www.buzzle.com/articles/somaliland-the-chronicles- of-chaos-fratricide-conflict-and-mafia-part-i.html

Here is the second part of Dr. Shamsaddin's Article. Somaliland – The Chronicles of Chaos, Fratricide Conflict, and Mafia. Part II Dr.Muhammad Shamsaddin Megalommatis February 22, 2009 In a previous article, I reported on the recent developments throughout Somalia, indicating that the circumference of the illegal breakaway state Somaliland remains today the only chaotic territory of Somalia, thus engulfing the Northern Somalis in insecurity, strife, anarchy and – last but not least – underdevelopment. The Hargeisa gang around Riyaale, supported by the historical enemies of Somalia, the barbaric and lewd Amhara and Tigray Monophysitic (Tewahedo) Abyssinians, has to be removed from the power by any possible means. It would therefore be essential for the patriotic Somali leaders, Sheikh Hassan Dahir Aweys, Sheikh Mukhtar Robow, the TFG President and Prime Minister, Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed and Omar Abdirashid Sharmarke, and the Puntland President Farole to put aside all their differences and stretch a hand of support and communication to the Kulmiye Party leader, Ahmed Silanyo, who as Somali patriot opposed with great commitment and unparalleled dignity Riyaale´s corrupt and perfidious policies and practices. In fact, nowadays, the old times´ tribal differences are viewed by the majority of the Somalis of all backgrounds as secondary and indicative of the Somali diversity and cultural wealth. The Northern Somalis deserve an act from the part of all the rest, a gesture that will show compassion and solidarity, and a sign that all the Somalis can start together the great effort for the rehabilitation of Somalia. An alliance among all the patriotic Somalis is possible, and it will trigger the collapse of the criminal Riyaale Mafia within hours. I republish here integrally an article written by an astute Somali commentator who knows the Hargeisa gangster very well; well enough to describe him as ´devil´. This shows the extent of the disintegration of the Hargeisa regime that is predestined to fall apart very soon. Working with the Devil (President Dahir Riyaale) By Nasir Xaaj Ciise http://www.longlivesomaliland.com/working_with_the _devil_Dahir_Riyaale_By_Nassir_Xaaji_Ciise.htm Hadhwanaag 2009-02-07 (Hadhwanaagnews) To work and share the same beliefs and ideologies is the worst action that a decent person can do with someone who is a completely evil person. Therefore to work with Riyaale is like working with the devil. President Riyaale is the most evil person in Somaliland, he bribes and divides our people, he also spreads injustice and discrimination amongst his own nation. He is an unjust ruler, a prejudice dictator and an authoritarian president. All his cabinet are his puppets, he makes the lives of our citizens unbearable and the situation in Somaliland is becoming a catastrophe. There is no lively hood left for the ordinary folks and the condition is really dire. The president has done nothing since he was in power except mismanagement and the wide spread of corruption. There is a vacuum of mismanagement and the people have lost hope in their government that is why many young people in Somaliland are getting radicalised and are being recruited by radical Islamist groups, while the rest of our younger generation are choosing 'the journey of death' in to Europe and the West. I want to tell the rest of my people and the international community that our President has lost all sense of mankind and he wants to stay in power for as long as can, he will try all sorts of tricks to remain powerful willing to use all the resources of his country to bribe his henchmen who are against democracy and justice so they will facilitate him to remain in power. President Riyaale was a bad person who served under the regime of Mohammed Syiad Bare and Mohammed Ibrahim Ciqaal and he will always be and evil person. His most powerful weaponry is corruption and imprisonment of innocent citizens. It is now or never to stop this evil, enough is enough to suffer! Therefore we have to elect the right person and show the president and his dirty politicians that the people have power and we have to stand together in the day of election and participate and join the different political groups. Somaliland needs a president who can inspire and guide the people in the right way during these difficult times. We need someone who can visualise the future; we do not need someone who is stuck in the present situation. What are needed for good governance are people with a clean reputation and the ability to perform. Riyaale is a puppet for the enemy of Somaliland and he will do anything that they want for a few thousand dollars so he can bribe our people. He always builds conflict amongst his own people to divide them so he can rule them the way he likes. We have to remove this parasite in a democratic way even if you do not like the other parties to win because it just causes more conflict; he only listens to Cawil who is a completely destructive man. My people our economy is hobbling, our democracy and freedom have also been vanished and Somaliland is in a state of limbo which is a covered black cloud of political quagmire; the entire system is nearly collapsing and we have lost the basic necessities such as freedom of speech and equal justice etc. I do not believe that our current president is capable to turn this situation around, how can we trust someone who even refuses any other candidate from his own party to take part in the coming presidential elections? He even intimidates those who dare to challenge him, plus any hotel owners who allow other political member to organise a meeting will face a hash punishment and their licence will he revoked. How can this be allowed to happen in a so called democratic and Islamic country? Riyaale is simply following in the foot steps of Mohammed Siyad Bare and he will pay the consequences sooner or later. I hope Somaliland will be free again and there will be equal justice under the law. Source

Dr. Muhammad Shamsaddin Megalommatis February 22, 2009 The worldwide financial and economic crisis proved to be a propitious event for Somalia – thus far. With the release of MV FAINA, the major Somali piracy issue took an end, and the pretext for an amphibious military operation in the area of the breakaway Puntland administration vanished. An unnecessary and terrible disaster was thus avoided. If we take into consideration what has occurred in Somalia since 1991, the development is really promising. On the other hand, following the fake Djibouti elections that reflect only partly and erratically Somalia´s realities, TFG has got a new colonial president, Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed, who has been rejected by his own people, the Alliance for the Re-liberation of Somalia (ARS); still based in Asmara the ARS members in their majority supported Sheikh Hassan Dahir Aweys, who denounced the TFG elections as an unrepresentative parody. Quite rightfully! The transformation of the patriotic ARS leader into a colonial TFG president was also discarded by the leader of the rival organization Al Shebab, Sheikh Mukhtar Robow, who controls the South. Several readers, who are familiar with my earlier support to Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed, may find it difficult to believe that I describe his present political status as colonial. One has to bear in mind that pleasant words lose their value, and good intentions become a pale reminiscence, when the deeds demonstrate a different reality. I will expand greatly in several forthcoming articles, but here I am contented to merely quote the news: "AU Envoy Says Somalia's National Unity Government to Be Secular" (title of an article in the Puntland portal: http://www.garoweonline.com/artman2/publish/Africa _22/AU_Envoy_Says_Somalia_s_National_Unity_Governm ent_to_Be_Secular.shtml). From the same source I republish the following paragraphs: "The African Union special envoy to Somalia said Somali President Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed has assured him the national unity government now being formed will be secular. The head of the AU peacekeeping mission AMISOM is hailing Sheikh Sharif's rise to power as a 'big chance' for halting the insurgency that has made Somalia ungovernable for nearly two decades. Special envoy Nicholas Bwakira is appealing to the international community for sustained diplomatic and political support for efforts to establish a stable administration in Somalia. After briefing the AU Peace and Security Council, Bwakira said he had been assured by Somali President Sharif Sheikh Ahmed, a Somali cleric, that his government would not be religious. "He also indicated that ... on the matter of religion, it would be the government, the State which will outline the policy, not the clerics," he said". Who is the Christian diplomat Nicholas Bwakira to dare say to the Somalis what to do and what not to do or how to arrange their life, society, and state? Can the Burundian diplomat present in public his speeches in several Jesuit colleges allover the world whereby he has repeatedly called for the establishment of a Christian – not secular – super-state allover the world? Where is then the due patriotic Somali reaction of the otherwise honest Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed? Does he accept to implement in Somalia what his extremist Christian Jesuit mentor orders? Is this attitude not colonial? Further in the North, the recent elections in Puntland brought to power Abdirahman Mohamud Farole, who is an educated and experienced economist with a great vision that serves the noble purpose of a pacified, unified and – note this – rehabilitated Somalia. His stance against the dark deal between the Australian Oil company Range Resources and the previous Mohamud ´Adde´ Muse bears witness to President Farole´s patriotism and irreproachability. What currently remains Somalia´s most problematic territory and most corrupt regime is the Hargeisa gang of the disposable pseudo-president Riyaale, Somalia´s most loathed person. Merciless tyrant and corrupt gangster, the Somali Al Capone represents modern Somalia´s bleakest page. His tyranny brought the different northern Somali tribes to the brink of the abyss. A parody of dictatorial elections is expected to take place in North-western Somalia next March. Had free elections been organized in Somaliland, more than 95% of the local population would have wholeheartedly rejected the high traitor of Hargeisa who ridiculed Somalia because of his servility to the criminal Abyssinian dictator Zenawi. The extent of the rejection is such that even Riyaale´s party was divided in the candidate nomination "procedure". I reproduce herewith an article earlier published in the Somali portal Xogtamaanta that sheds more light in the last divisive policies and activities of the murderous dictator of Hargeisa. Soon, Somaliland will crumble, and the Northern Somalis will gain again their rightful and influential position within Somalia, thus contributing to the Horn of Africa pacification and rehabilitation. Somaliland Ruling Party Divides over Candidate Nominations http://www.xogtamaanta.com/page21.html Hargeisa, Somaliland, 06.02.09 (xogtamaanta.com) -- Somaliland's ruling party UDUB has embroiled in a nasty and politically self-destructive quarrel that exposed the intramural UDUB divisions and the bitterness that tainted the party's convention in Hargeisa. The UDUB convention was said it would last three days, but with hasty crowning of president Riyaale and his vice, as the unchallenged UDUB candidates for the upcoming presidential elections turned the convention into two days of showdown for president Riyaale, his vice, Ahmed Yusuf Yassin, and their cronies. The convention held at one of Hargeisa's prestigious banquet halls – at Maansoor hotel was staged as a coalescing event for Riyaale for his bid to run for the second term, but influential party members and heavy weight elites barred competing with president Riyaale were left outside and deprived both their constitutional and party member rights, are calling it illegal the way the convention and nominations were conducted. Ismail Adan Osman, the former interior minister is one of the four men wanted to contest with president Riyaale at the party convention, and was the only entrant managed to attend the convention, but not allowed to challenge the staged convention that declared president Riyaale and his vice as the UDUB's only candidates. "What happened at the convention and the declaration of president Riyaale as uncontested candidate is fallacy and unacceptable," said Ismail Osman, who was speaking after he walked out the convention when he was stopped to challenge a notion prepared by the chairing committee which proposed to amend the UDUB constitution in favor of president Riyaale and his vice as the only candidate for the UDUB party. Abdillahi Iman Dirawal, a former health minister and two other contestants, who also wanted to contest with Riyaale, but denied to attend the convention and to contest, called the nomination of president Riyaale as 'null and void' and vowed that they will continue to challenge the candidacy of president Riyaale and his vice. "If Riyaale thinks we will abandon the UDUB party for him, we want him to know that we are staying and will challenge him within the rule of law" said Abdillahi Dirawal who was speaking at a mini convention they held simultaneously with the convention they were barred to participate on Wednesday. The hijack of the convention by Riyaale is the discernible actions that president Riyaale is not the same guy that the people elected in the last elections -- he has changed and he is now someone else," said Ismail Osman, the former right-hand man of Riyaale who is adamant for not accepting the way Riyaale was nominated. The UDUB convention and the hasty nomination of president Riyaale have revealed the rift and the division the UDUB party and its elites endured, and it will make difficult for most UDUB members to rally around the declared candidates without compromise between the two camps. The division of UDUB is also a sign of self-defeat in the next elections which three parties, including UDUB will contest in hotly worried presidential elections that each party can not afford to lose. Source

Somalia's Olympic team follow their national flag-bearer Duran Farah during the opening ceremony of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games at the National Stadium, August 8, 2008. By Abdi Mohamed MOGADISHU, Aug 9 (Reuters) - For Somalis watching the Olympic Games opening ceremony on television in the bombed-out capital Mogadishu there was little thought of medals, just pride at seeing their team in Beijing at all. Despite staggering disadvantages, the impoverished Horn of Africa nation has managed to send a small number of competitors to the last half-dozen Olympics. This year their team is 10-strong. The country slid into anarchy after warlords overthrew a dictator in 1991. Now a new insurgency by Islamist rebels has killed more than 8,000 civilians since the start of last year. "I was excited when I saw our blue flag being waved in the stadium," Nur Ahmad, a 52-year-old Mogadishu man, said. "Even though we are in anarchy, for a few hours yesterday we were no different than developed countries like the United States, Spain, Germany or Canada," he said. "It reminded me of our heyday before the civil war." Elsewhere, there were brutal reminders of the plight of ordinary Somalis caught between the insurgents, the divided interim government and its Ethiopian military allies. Abdukadir Abulahi and a group of friends in Afgoye, on the outskirts of the city, were captivated by the colourful scenes from China when a heavy battle broke out nearby. "We were watching the opening carnival with great interest, but we switched it off when we heard the gunfire," Abulahi said. At least seven people, including five civilians, died. U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has called on all warring parties to respect a traditional ceasefire during the Games. Most Somalis who watched the ceremony viewed it on televisions in the relative safety of homes. In the past, groups gathering to watch movies or football matches at video halls have been targeted by grenade-throwing assailants. GUNMEN OCCUPY STADIUM Abdinasir Said Ibrahim, who will run in the 5,000 metres facing stiff competition against athletes from neighbouring Kenya and Ethiopia, trained in rubble-strewn Mogadishu. "The main stadium there is now a military base, so we trained on the highways and at the smaller Banadir stadium," the 19-year-old told Reuters by telephone from Beijing. "Sometimes the violence stopped us from attending training, but we are determined to do well," he said. Somalia has never won a medal at the Olympic Games. Its best performance came in 1996 when its most renowned athlete, Abdi Bile, took sixth place in 1,500 metres at Atlanta. That success triggered a typically Somali type of adulation: fighters in lawless Mogadishu began dubbing their "technicals" -- pickup trucks mounted with heavy weapons -- as "Abdi Biles". "It's the best name we could get because of its speed and power," one former militiaman, Ibrahim Maalim, said with a grin. Humanitarian workers say the violence has triggered an aid crisis in Somalia that is feared to be the worst in Africa. About 1 million people have been displaced by the fighting, and their dire situation has been compounded by severe drought, high food and fuel prices and record inflation. "Many here are poor and cannot afford to install a satellite dish to watch the Olympics," said Maalim, the former militiaman. The United Nations warned last month that attacks on aid workers threatened to wreck all attempts to resolve a disaster that could soon rival Somalia's famine in the early 1990s. But Adan Hashi Yabarow, deputy chairman of Somalia's Olympic Committee, said he hoped the sight of the country's team just taking part in the Beijing Games would bring hope to many. "Our main priority is to see the Somali flag being hosted here," Yabarow told Reuters. "We have a young team and although we hope they will do well, our desire is to see our flag among the other countries participating in the Olympics." More: video of somali olympic team at the opening ceremony: Bartamaha

The sage of Makhir/Sanag of yore, Abdi Fatah , was once asked, “What is the secret of your legendary winning ways regarding arguments, big and small?”: His answer roughly translates thus: “I thoroughly examine and deliberate on all sides of the matter at hand well before a case is ever brought to a (traditional) court”. “When I’m getting ready to reason with a man, I spend one third of my time thinking about myself and what I am going to say—and two thirds thinking about him and what he going to say”. Abraham Lincoln As Salamu ‘Alaikum Dear Brothers, The purpose of this open letter is to reason with you, the sons and daughters of Makhir/Sanag that are presently marooned in Hargeisa, in the “best mujadallah” that we, as a community, traditionally employ when dealing with others—but which we seldom extend to each other. Though I am not nearly as eloquent as the men quoted above, I’m nonetheless encouraged to send this note because of my unwavering confidence that we, in this community, can and should do everything in our power to find a veritable common ground on the socio-political issues of our time. I firmly belief that, by reasoning together, we can get to the truth. So let’s begin at the beginning. There is no debating that our home region—Makhir/Sanag, which is the cradle of the Somali nation, had fallen on hard times for the past couple of generations. Once well recognized as a powerhouse in Somali polity, the region’s reversal of fortunes began with our forefathers’ resistance to the proposal to establish British “Protectorate” headquarters on Makhir soil. In retaliation agents of the British colonial Office in Aden began to impound all Makhiri dhows, ending the community’s unparalleled domination of the sea lanes throughout the Horn region and beyond, and with it the region’s economic basis. In addition, the buuryaqab British began to arm, hitherto relatively weak but hostile clans against the peaceful but fiercely independent people of Makhir/Sanag. For his part, the Sayyid Mohammad Abdulle Hassan, having been similarly rebuffed by the Makhir/Sanag community had, at the turn of the 20th Century, begun to unleash a genocidal campaign using hordes of his Drawiish movement against the community. As history would recall, none of these multi-pronged attacks were able to cow the gallant Makhiri/Sanag Gaadh-hayye corps led by Sultan Mohamoud Ali Shireh . After independence, all that the region received from successive Somali administrations can be summed up in two words: benign neglect. True enough, this brief recapping of the foregoing events would probably be no brainer for some of you, brothers. But I must remind you that its value lies elsewhere: the necessity for us to review the events together for the purposes of putting the present in its proper historic perspective in order for us to chart the future we want for the community. The take away point is this: our forefathers chose dignity over expediency. But it is our recent generations that have become awfully weak at the knees, when it comes to questions of honor and waajib concerning the community. Today we can safely identify the culprits that brought about the current malaise in which the community lacks basic technology and capital to make efficient use of available resources independently: they are none other out generation—the elites of the community, with our inability to outline much less effect a framework informed by the imperative for unity of purpose. That the resultant socio-economic and political underdevelopment would be further exacerbated by the lack of functional infrastructure facilities was known to all for a long time. Yet mindless complacency remains the order of the day. There are of course other contributing factors. These include the region’s adjacency to hostile and/or indifferent neighbors that have tried to maximize their relative geopolitical advantage in the chaotic period following the collapse of the central government, some odd 17 years ago. Add to this sad mix the missing role of an all but inept leadership cadre, and a perpetually disaffected Diaspora. And, you are looking at a huge disaster in the making. The most egregious, clear and present danger facing the community today, however, is that of the predatory policies of the neighboring, self-styled rebel-state of Somaliland that is seeking to forcibly take over Makhir/Sanag. In their multi-faceted mischief-making efforts, they seem to be frantically seeking to model the profound words of the American poet, Leonard H. Robbins : How a minority, Reaching majority, Seizing authority, Hates minority In trying to reason with you brothers and sisters of Makhir/Sanag, now ensconced in the enemy camp, allow me to point out one central fact: your active collaboration with the secessionists is fulfilling crafty plans fashioned by folks who have demonstrated time and again that they have nothing but ill-will for the community whence you come. So, frankly, you are being used, though perhaps unwittingly, to play a supporting role in those short-sighted, hostile plans—the ultimate purpose of which is to upend the once-powerful Makhir/Sanag, once and for all. The SNM forces’ plans, fashioned in Hargeisa’s famous mafrishyada qaadka , are simple. They wish to simplistically mimic the British colonial tactic of yester year: divide and rule! Dear brothers, while some people are busy inventing a false history, remember that the community is the true link to our past as well as bridge to our future; do not betray it. As a Muslim, I believe in the defense of what is Haqq , which is to say that I’m adamantly opposed to force without justice, but I am for using force in the defense of justice; for example, self-defense. Yet, my libertarian side would also defend freedom of association insofar as one considers the consequence of such association, intended or otherwise. To wit, one should consider the meaning of the Somali saying: “Meeshaad nin ugu dhowaanaysid, nin baad kaga dheeraanaysa”. For such a scenario would be particularly jarring if: ninka aad ka dheeranaysid uu yahay walaalkaa oo nacab weerarayo. Do not get me wrong, strayed! brothers and sisters of Makhir/Sanag. I do understand why many of you are in Hargeisa. Few of you were born and raised in the area and are basically at home; few others are inan layaalo and are possibly marooned in that city; some maybe long-time residents conducting business there; others live there because Hargeisa is a relatively livable place compared to many other Somali towns; to be sure, several of you are there to distance yourselves from those in Makhir/Sanag that have made cottage industry out of flaming the fires of fitna within the community as a means of securing their daily rice-bowl; and, a number of you are no doubt disgusted with the idiocy that permeates the poorly administered state of Puntland , where a greedy, arrogant cabal, that can not shoot straight, calls the shots. Hargeisa is a Somali city. However, the regime that operates from there is obstinately opposed to Somali unity. And, therein lies the crux of the problem many Somalis have with the self-avowed secessionists. In deed, the proponents of secession are card-carrying members of an accursed club of Soomaali diid —the agenda of which is informed by clanism, gone wild! Dear brothers, here is what your community wants you to do (and trust me, I know whereof I speak). It is the following: Do not to be used as mercenaries against your own kith and kin in a clano-political war of domination . This is exactly what happened to our brothers in Sool and Cayn . There, the SNM secessionists basically hired on the cheap a faction and subsequently set the members of that proud community against one other—brother against brother, cousin against cousin, all at the behest of folks in far away Hargeisa who would like nothing more than to say that “we have defeated that community”. Victory and defeat are meted out or granted whatever the case maybe by the Almighty Allah. But there are conditions by which a right-acting community can attain the first and avoid the latter: The people therein have to maintain unity and should never be divided come what may by those who do not have their community’s best interest at heart! Brothers, there is one other thing that we all owe to our community and that is to help develop its capacity, primarily the socio-economic sector. The key to this challenge, as you all know too well, is the seminal project being spearheaded by Horn Relief, namely the Las Qoray Port Project . Thus the challenge for all of us, the sons and daughters of Makhir/Sanag, is do all we can to help in this and other developmental projects that would improve the living standard of the community. As we are aware, no foreign aid reaches our shores. So we should support our own by participating in tangible endeavors in the spirit of independence and self-reliance. You know as well as I do that the cause of secession has no legal or moral justification. However, if the SNM clanists insist on going their own way and abandon the Somali nation altogether, then I say let them have their wish to go their own way. But, brothers and sisters of Makhir/Sanag (who may currently be under the tutelage of the secessionists), I implore you not to go to hell in the proverbial hand-basket with that group’s conflict-ridden, Somali diid agenda. It foreshadows nothing but destruction for all concerned. Lastly, do not, under any circumstances, be used as tools with which our community would be dragged into what will ultimately end-up as an unhappy, dead-end exercise. After all, the secessionists’ unfounded claim to an intrinsic right to separate from the nation, of which they are an integral part will, one way or the other, be stopped at the borders of those neighboring peaceful, pro-union, communities namely Makhir/Sanag, Sool and Cayn . Respectfully Yours, Ali A. Fatah

Reminds me good old days Waayo Waayo. Thanks.

More than most countries in Africa, Somalia has appeared to scholars, and even its own citizens, as possessing the basic ingredients for a cohesive nation. The nearly six million Somalis speak the same language, almost all of them are Muslims of the Sunni sect and most lead a nomadic pastoral life herding camels and cattle in the deserts. But underlying these common themes is a deep clan rivalry that in the last 20 years has been enhanced by an armory of modern weapons supplied by both cold-war superpowers. Instead of fighting with traditional spears and shields, the clans have more recently conducted their feuds with mortars and machine guns. Now, as the country has devolved into anarchy, some experts on Africa worry that Somalia may be the most extreme example of what could occur elsewhere on the continent. Neighboring Ethiopia, for example, already appears to be splitting up into ethnically based areas as the new central Government loses control over vast sections of the country. "Many people see what is happening in Somalia as a pattern that could develop in Ethiopia, Sudan, Zaire and from which Kenya is not immune," said Michael Southwick, deputy chief of mission at the United States Embassy in Nairobi. "We could end up with Africa the way it was before the colonialists came, divided up into tribal enclaves." Cold-War Weapons A sliver of a country that juts into the Indian Ocean on the Horn of Africa, Somalia, with its proximity to the Middle East and the sea lanes to Asia, was considered strategically important by the Soviet Union and the United States during the cold war. Soon after a police colonel in the former Italian colonial force, Mohammed Siad Barre, seized power in 1969, the Soviets sent him ample weapons. It was a reward, in part, for declaring "scientific socialism" the country's ideology. The Soviets dropped Mr. Siad Barre in 1977 after Ethiopia turned to Marxism, and by 1980 the United States had filled the vacuum. Washington dispatched weapons to Somalia, built its most expensive embassy compound in Africa on the shore of the Indian Ocean, and sent agricultural experts to help on a variety of projects. Much of the American aid money ended up in corrupt pockets. According to David D. Laitin, author of "Somalia, Nation in Search of a State," Mr. Siad Barre's ministers and middlemen skimmed up to 40 percent of all foreign-aid contracts. But when the cold war ended, Mr. Siad Barre found himself deserted, the intense interest by the superpowers replaced by indifference as his repressive regime began to teeter in 1990 under pressures from clans that he had brutally excluded from power. Mr. Siad Barre was ousted in January 1991 by rebel forces led by the ****** clan, one of the major clans in Somalia. The ****** were seeking the power that Mr. Siad Barre had reserved exclusively for his own people, the *****, and in particular the ***** subclan called the Mahareen. For nearly a year, the ****** managed to keep control in the southern section of Somalia, which until 1960 had been an Italian colony. The northern part of the country, which was colonized by the British and is mostly inhabited by one clan, the Isaaks, declared itself a separate state, Somaliland, soon after Mr. Siad Barre fled. But in November, the two most closely connected subclans of the ****** declared war on each other. For five months, the Habir Gidir led by Mohammed Sarah Aidid, and the Abgals, headed by Mohammed Ali Mahdi, fought each other in the capital with the weapons left behind by the Soviets, the Americans, the Italians and the Germans. The fighting, combined with looting, virtually destroyed the city and certainly the fabric of society. Some educated Somalis, disgusted with the warfare, concluded that Mr. Aidid, a former Somali Army general, and Mr. Ali Mahdi were merely struggling to reap for themselves the spoils that Mr. Siad Barre had kept for 21 years. First Loyalty: the Clan While the fighting went on, killing, according to humanitarian agencies, about 30,000 people, much of the world ignored it. Almost all of the United States diplomats who were airlifted out of the Mogadishu Embassy by helicopter just days before Mr. Siad Barre fell were assigned to other posts. State Department officials in Washington said the issue of Somalia did not move beyond the realm of the Assistant Secretary for African Affairs, Herman J. Cohen, until last month. A United Nations cease-fire worked out in late March between Mr. Aidid and Mr. Ali Mahdi has more or less held, United Nations officials say. But the clan-based fighting has moved to other areas of the country, as Mr. Aidid tries to gain advantage over the ***** clan of the ousted Mr. Siad Barre. Many Somalis say they are embarrassed to acknowledge that their first loyalty is to their clan. "It is extremely rude for a Somali to ask another Somali which clan he belongs to," said an American-educated Somali in Mogudishu. "It is often difficult to tell by just looking at a Somali which clan he belongs to. But by asking discreet questions, he will quickly find out." Somali Town Politics For the International Committee of the Red Cross, which has been the chief humanitarian agency working in Somalia in the last 18 months, understanding clan politics has been a requisite for the job. "Life is lived and death is died by clan," said Geoff Loane, relief coordinator for Somalia for the Red Cross. "The ***** are strong. So are the Habir Gidir, General Aidid's clan. The non-Somali clans are the weakest. They are the descendants of slaves." The height of clan politics came to the forefront two weeks ago in the port of Kismayo, a town which recently came under the control of Mr. Aidid. The Red Cross had won the agreement of Mr. Aidid's forces to move a number of ***** families, whose men worked for the Red Cross, out of the city. The ***** believed they were in hostile territory and wanted to leave, the Red Cross said. But the Aidid forces broke the agreement, took the ***** men aside and apparently killed them. Source

A moving piece of video by Rageh Omar about the Young Somali boys in London who are being killed by none other than by other Somali boys who has become a street gangs, who want to get their hands on any Somali boy attacking with viciousness.

Congressman Howard Coble of North Carolina denies sponsoring a bill to recognize Somaliland. Interview

The sun rises in the east in Mogadishu without failure just like any other place but that is where the similarities end. In Mogadishu, people usually wake up overwhelmed by tension. Seventeen years of civil war have forced the 2 million residents of this city, once called the Pearl of the Indian Ocean, to master survival tactics. Hardly people go to bed without listening to the mid-night news bulletins from the dozen or so FM radio stations. The mornings may pack surprises but the people know what to do. They switch on their radios news as early as 6 a.m. in order to know what the day portends. Nocturnal attacks by insurgents on the forces of the Transitional Federal Government (TFG) and its Ethiopian backers rarely spill over to the day. So, in the mornings, people usually hear horrific stories of civilian casualties. Artillery fire and stray bullets cause indiscriminate damage but as long as confrontations do not continue into day, people risk and go to their places of work. Those lucky enough to reach the Bakara market, the biggest trading centre in Somalia, ought to pick at least a copy the local dailies. Xog-Ogaal, Waayaha and Mogadishu Times are among the few newspapers that have survived the civil war. Their reportage is usually local but these days, they are covering Kenya, which, until December 29 last year, was very stable. Now Somalis read with amusement stories of Kenyans being urged to shun bloodletting lest they go the Somali way. “We are told that Kenyans are scared of the possibility of their country becoming like Somalia,” says Abdi Gure, a trader in Mogadishu. “It must be a shocking prospect for a dynamic nation like Kenya,” says Abdi Gure. But Somalia wasn’t always lawless. Until late 1980s, the country had functioning institutions although the Siad Barre dictatorship was fast losing steam with opponents solidifying into rebel groups that toppled him on January 26, 1991. Ali Mahdi Mohamed, who led the Mogadishu uprising that toppled the dictator, was immediately chosen as interim president. He promised to hold a broad based reconciliation conference within a month for the nation to decide on a more genuine transition rule. However, the proposal was rejected by General Mohamed Farah Aideed who led an amalgamated opposition and a group of army officers in fighting Ali Mahdi. The era known as Aideed Vs Ali Mahdi had begun and the two men remained the sole political leaders as hope of reconciliation lingered. Kenyans appear to be going through a similar experience as former United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan chairs talks between President Mwai Kibaki’s and Mr Raila Odinga’s sides to solve a presidential election dispute that has pushed Kenya into the verge of a civil war. “Kenyans are on tenterhooks, expecting a breakthrough but everybody has to bear in mind of what happened in Somalia can happen there,” says Ali Olow Nur, a Mogadishu clan leader. As Somalia burnt, Ali Mahdi and Aideed kept on selecting teams to negotiate only for rejections of grounds already covered to push the whole process to square A and frustrate the optimistic populace. In early 1993, lower ranking warlords expressed dissatisfaction with their leaders and attempted to form their own factions. But, General Aideed and Ali Mahdi were still powerful to prevent a proliferation of splinter groups, although they were careless about the killings and other forms of human suffering. The hunger for power and sense of independence drove former allies Dr Hussein Hajji Bood and Al-Hajji Mussa Sudi Yalahow to split from Ali Mahdi. Following suit, Osman Hassan Ali ‘Atto’ formed a rival group against Aideed until the general was killed in August 1996. The new faction leaders established their reigns of terror as killing and mayhem intensified. Mohamed Qanyare Afrah and Botan Issa Alim also broke ranks with their masters. By 1997, there were nearly 20 warlords in Somalia. When Omar Mohamoud Mohamed alias Filish opted to breakaway from Al-Hajji Mussa Yalahow in 2001 at their stronghold in Southern Mogadishu, entire neighbourhoods, especially Madina and Dharkinley districts were terrorised as their militias turned their guns on each other. Only God knows how many people lost lives or limbs. Kenyans are in the initial stage of political confusion. If not tackled, it could degenerate into mayhem and statelessness. Perhaps they can borrow a leaf from Somalia. In repentance, Somalis say “Dowlad xun, dowlad la’aan ayay dhaantaa,” (a bad government is better than a power vacuum). Respectively, Kibaki and Odinga command a large following but their lieutenants are also people with considerable power bases. A bigger danger would be if the lieutenants trash the current set up and form their own groupings. When General Aideed became prominent as rebel leader, his alliance included the late Abdurahman Ahmed Ali alias Abdurahman Tour who hailed from northwestern Somalia. Sensing that Aideed was being sidelined from power by Ali Mahdi’s assemblage of warlords, Abdurahman Tour deserted him and formed the breakaway Republic of Somaliland. “If Somalia’s experience is anything to go by, then Kenyans must embrace concessions, consensus and compromises,” says Ahmed Ali Nur, a political analyst in Mogadishu. “They have to admit that their democracy is not perfect and needs time to mature. Those telling Kenyans that their country could become a Somalia need receptive ears—not machete wielding youth and warmongers. No country deserves to go the Somalia way,” he adds. The first step to a failed state happens when diplomatic missions close their gates and evacuate non-essential staff. After, that gangs break into the vacated properties and make away with cars, computers, stereo systems, watches, valuable decorations and of course cash. This type of looting took place in the very early days of the chaos in Mogadishu. When the armed lot was gone, human scavengers moved in to cart away whatever had remained. When things go really bad, government offices are targeted.Decades-old documents disappear in a matter of minutes and national treasure of no imaginable value ends up in the hands of irresponsible hands. “As of today, most Kenyans have their documents intact and people still have their sentimental personal and family records,” says Nur, who lost all his certificates, family photos and civil service records when he fled his flat in Mogadishu’s Hamar-bile neighbourhood for his life. What he may not know is that similar things have happened in various flashpoints in Kenya where private homes and government offices have been razed. Recently, the Somali political cartoonist, Amin Amir, posted a caricature on his popular web site, aminarts.com. No one could have compared the plight of Kenyans (symbolised by a man wielding a bloodied machete) to that of Somalia (symbolised by a man who lost several limbs and is walking on crutches). The artist depicted Kenya approaching Somalia and asking: “How can I carry out self destruction? You must know it better!” The laughing Somali replies: “The way you’re doing is not bad. Just carry on until you cripple yourself like me.” Writing as a concerned PanAfricanist, Dr Tajudeen AbdulRaheem recently wrote that “Kenya is too important to be left to Kenyans alone.” He is right. Meanwhile, over 21,000 Somalis face a humanitarian crisis after Médecins sans Frontières’ (MSF) pulled its foreign staff out of the country The pullout by the doctors without frontiers as the NGO’s name suggests, has left many medical facilities in Somalia without skilled personnel and medicines. MSF was forced to withdraw its international work force from parts of Somalia after a Kenyan doctor, a French logistics expert and a Somali driver died when their convoy was hit by a roadside bomb last week in Kismayu, 500 kilometres south of Mogadishu. The decision by the Geneva based charity has affected facilities in Southern and Central Somalia and in the semi-autonomous Puntland State in Northeastern Somalia. Nationmedia.com

Wardheernews has been in the forefront, more than any other Somali website, in defending Somalia’s unity and serve as an open, unbiased forum where diverse views on Somalia’s vexed problems and possible solutions are presented, not least those from secessionist diehards. It is therefore to be complimented for reprinting Qaybe’s memorable thoughts on the one-clan driven secession based in some parts of NW Somalia, which he originally intimated to the Washington Report on Middle East Affairs in May 1994. Those irrefutable home truths stood the test of time and remain as valid today as they were when he first made them at that time. And it is this reminding that makes then today an anathema in secessionist circles Casting gratuitous aspersions on Wardheernews’ noble goal of being faithful to its true journalistic mission is to be expected for those whom any bad news about Somalia is good news and one plus for Somaliland, and any dissent with - their misguided secession is dismissed out of hand as a sacrilege against what they see as their sacred, untouchable secession. One such critic of Wardheernews for having the temerity to reprint Qaybe’s legendary thoughts is a certain Mr. Sarmad Shaykh. Writing in Awdalnews, he has been lashing out at the website because Qaybe’s incontestable truths are an antithesis of all those mendacious propaganda that the secessionists had propagated since they declared their secession in 1991 It is instructive to revisit some selected extracts of Qaybe thoughts which he gave at a time when he was still held in high esteem and his views as a former foreign minister were very much after-sought. This is what he had to say: “A majority of the residents of the former Somaliland oppose secession, and that the independence movement is an attempt by the **** clan to grab power”; “It’s a one tribe issue; the Isaqs want to secede and he other clans are saying no”: “The other clans are willing to manage their own affairs locally until such time as a central government is formed. They are willing to be patient”; “Despite their differences, all the other clans are against secession” “There is no such a thing as a united Somaliland” “The ***** secessionist aspirations date back to the early years of Somali independence and gradually evolved into the armed Somali National Movement(SNM)”; “The Isaaqs felt they lost out in the union; however, members of the ***** clan have served in every major post in the Somali government save that of the president. Egal for instance was prime minister of Somalia from 1967-1969”. In the face of these unfavourable facts, Sarmad can only come up with some bland unconvincing counter argument aimed at damage control. He claims that Qaybe’s statements “works to Somaliland’s advantage”. “How” he asks? Because it shows, according to him, that the “diehard opponents of Somaliland are being won over” and adds:” if the man who uttered those words in 1994 is today one of the leaders of Somaliland who are campaigning for its cause, what does that tell you about Somaliland?” Well, what it tells me, and no doubt others, is that Qaybe is a dead liability since what Somaliland has gained is not a believer in its cause, given his past record, but a desperate old man , having despaired of the revival of the Somali State or any other future elsewhere, felt that throwing his lot with Somaliland was the only option left for him, where he could trade his dubious initial propaganda value to the secessionists for a secure comfortable life in Hargeisa in his old age. Even if one was to assume that Qaybe has undergone genuine miraculous conversion to the secession, which is not the case, what matters above anything else is not his change of heart per se but whether he has any significant support in his own SSC regions which he could deliver to Hargeisa. It is this aspect which in the end counts for Hargeisa and not the fact that he was once the foreign minister of Siyad Barre’s last government. Regarding the extent of his constituency suppor, Qaybe has always been a solitary lonely figure in every sense of the word with no grassroots back-up in his native home ground. Rarely have Qaybe , and the other mercenaries from Sool, Sanaag and Cayn, all marooned in Hargeisa, ever ventured out of the city and went back to their constituencies in order to mobilise support for the secession. It is true that Fuad Aden Adde went back the other day to his birth place, Lascanod, but only under the protection of the invaders and occupiers of the city. Such humiliating spectacle of being protected from the wrath of his people by their occupiers might have broken the back of any self-respecting man but that is something over which the types of Fuad Adden Adde, Xaabsade, Qaybe and other SSC mercenaries would not lose any sleep. Qaybe may pride himself that, unlike Fuad Adan Adde, he went back to Buuhoodle the other day unaccompanied by Somaliland militia. But all the same, his forced exit from the town, after he was chased out by the residents, is no less ignominious-all the more so since this visit may well turn out to be his last to his native home town. Taking Xaabsaade shameful comings and goings between Somaliland and Puntland as a typical case of the ways of SSC drop-outs and traitors to their region and country, one can only ponder as to where one draws the line between those who sell themselves to a cause they do not believe in purely for personal gain, , and those who sell their body equally for financial rewards?. In layman’s language, the two types only represent different facets of self-prostitution. What value then can such people have for Hargeisa? The answer is none, although Sarmad may disagree. It is this realisation that they had no support in the SSC regions at large that ultimately persuaded the secessionist enclave to invade and occupy Lascanod. Now that the early days of euphoria has ebbed, the occupiers are under no illusion now that their days in Lascanod and Sool are numbered and that they will be thrown out from Sool sooner rather later. But if there is something from Sool, Sanaag and Cayn that the secessionists will be allowed to hang on to, it is to continue to keep those SSC traitors at their own taxpayers’ expenses. The SSC regions appreciate that Hargeisa Hargeisa continues to serve as a magnet and dumping ground for SSC traitors. And if Sarmad sees our “traitors” as their “gain”, so be it. Source

In the wake of U.S. and other international troop withdrawals, Somalia faces even more problems than the absence of central government, endemic clan rivalries, civil strife and the lingering specter of food shortages. There is also the prospect of a formal breakup of Somalia into two separate nations based upon the former colonial boundaries between Italian-occupied Somalia and British Somaliland. In May 1991, leaders of the Somali National Movement, a political party dominated by the ***** clan, unilaterally declared an independent Republic of Somaliland in northwestern Somalia . Its self-proclaimed borders correspond exactly with those of the former protectorate of British Somaliland before its incorporation into Somalia 34 years ago. The self-styled Somaliland government of President Mohammed Ibrahim Egal has yet to be recognized by any foreign power, but the secessionists are taking advantage of Somalia's continuing instability to press their claim to independence. It raises perplexing questions of self-determination, territorial integrity, national sovereignty and the role of the international community in helping Somalia rise from the ashes of war and famine. One of the most prominent opponents of secession is Ahmed Mohammed Adan , a Somali diplomat and statesman who himself hails from the former British Somaliland but is not a member of the ***** clan. During his career in the Somali diplomatic service, which began with independence in 1960, Adan served as ambassador to the United Kingdom, the Soviet Union, the United States and the United Nations. He was serving as Somalia's foreign minister when the 1991 overthrow of former President Mohammed Siad Barre plunged the country into its current state of chaos. Now Adan is affiliated with the United Somali Party and serves on a popularly elected council which oversees regional affairs for the northern Sol and Sanaag areas, within the British Somaliland boundaries, pending the re- establishment of a government in Mogadishu. Currently a resident of the United Arab Emirates, Adan spoke to the Washington Report during a recent U.S. visit to discuss the secession issue with American and U.N. officials. Adan insists that a majority of the residents of the former Somaliland oppose secession , and that the independence movement is an attempt by the ***** clan to grab power. The ***** form a plurality in Somaliland since they live almost entirely within the former British Somaliland, while the disputed region's four other clans extend into the rest of Somalia. "It's a one-tribe issue ," Adan says. "The ***** want to secede and the other clans are saying no. The others are willing to manage their own affairs locally until such time as a central government is formed. They are willing to be patient." Adan dismisses the view that ongoing violence in the former Somali capital of Mogadishu and the southern city of Kismayu has led many non-***** northerners to favor an independent Somaliland. "Despite their other differences, all of the other clans are against secession," Adan says. He points out that a divided Somalia would cut across most clan lines, separating the majority of those in Somaliland from members of their clans in the south. "At least this is one issue that has brought the clans together," he adds. Adan also disputes the notion that Somaliland enjoys tranquility, noting that Egal's government does not control large portions of the region, including the airport at the capital of Hargeisa and the main seaport of Berbera. Outside observers say the ***** themselves are split by rivalries among various sub- clans. "Egal's writ does not run in the areas of the other clans, and his government, police, courts, etc. have no presence there," Adan says. "He is presiding over a very chaotic situation, despite the claims that there is stability. There is no such thing as a united Somaliland." The breakaway region was known as the protectorate of British Somaliland between 1884 and 1960, when the colonial administration withdrew. Voters in a popular referendum in February of that year elected to join Somalia to the south. An act of union was negotiated by the Hargeisa and Mogadishu governments, ratified by both national assemblies and then approved by popular vote across Somalia in 1961. "There is no such thing as a united Somaliland." According to the act of union, any effort to dissolve the united republic must be approved by a four-fifths majority of all Somali voters. The ***** claim that they are exercising their right to self-determination in the absence of a central government authority. However, Adan argues that both the United Nations and the Organization of African Unity have repeatedly upheld the principle that self-determination cannot be applied to an integral part of a sovereign state. In the past, he notes, Somalia's attempts to raise the issue of self-determination in Ethiopia's Somali-populated ****** province were rebuffed repeatedly by the international community for just this reason. ***** secessionist aspirations date back to the early years of Somali independence, Adan feels, and gradually evolved into the armed Somali National Movement (SNM). "The ***** felt they lost out in the union," according to Adan. He notes, however, that members of the ***** clan have served in every major post in the Somali government save that of president. Somaliland President Egal, for instance, was prime minister of Somalia from 1967 to 1969, and has also held the education and defense portfolios. In the 1980s, the SNM came to rely on former Ethiopian dictator Mengistu Haile Mariam for arms, training and logistical support for its guerrilla attacks. Following Mengistu's 1988 rapprochement with Siad Barre, however, the SNM commandos were evicted from Ethiopia and returned to northwest Somalia. There they began a series of attacks against government forces, capturing parts of Hargeisa and the inland city of Burao. SNM leaders privately told their clan followers they were fighting for independence, while publicly claiming to support a united Somalia. Siad Barre's forces launched a brutal counter-insurgency campaign from Mogadishu to put down the rebels. In doing so, they were responsible for a number of atrocities against civilians and created lasting resentment among the *****. Somalia's disastrous descent into chaos after the 1991 fall of Siad Barre allowed the SNM and the ***** to realize their goal of Somaliland independence. The Egal government still faces two serious challenges, however: the economic weakness of Somaliland and the lack of formal international recognition. The former British Somaliland "will have to be economically supported and subsidized by a foreign country," Ahmed Mohammed Adan believes, noting that "even with the whole of Somalia there has been the problem of economic viability." A parallel can be drawn with Djibouti-formerly French Somaliland-- which relies on French aid for its continued existence. The Hargeisa government has talked about exploiting the region's oil resources, but the only significant reserves lie outside the Egal government's zone of control. Hargeisa's attempts to break out of its international isolation have led other Somalis to embark on a campaign to block any diplomatic recognition of Somaliland . During his American visit Adan met with a number of State Department officials, congressmen and congressional staffers, ambassadors to the United Nations and U.N. Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali. Adan's message was that "any attempt by secessionist elements to gain recognition should be rejected," he said. "All of the people I have met agree that secession is not the solution to the problems of Somalia , and that other, more positive solutions should be found," Adan says. Foreign diplomats, including U.N. Security Council members, told him secession is an internal Somali matter and their countries will not grant recognition to Somaliland without the approval of all Somalis. "But we are somewhat suspicious," Adan says. "I think it is very dangerous to encourage these people. It could provoke civil war in the north, since the other clans will not accept this. They want to stay with the rest of the republic," he says. In addition, Adan notes, "it will create a dangerous precedent for other African countries." As for Washington's approach, "I was told that the U. S. was neither for nor against this secession ," Adan smiles. "What this means, I don't know." Adan is adamant, though, that the world community should play a role in the future of Somalia. "It would be unwise to disengage from Somalia now, after so much has been invested in men and materiel," he believes. "If the international community walks away from the civil strife in Somalia it could continue and spread into neighboring countries. "The countries of the Horn of Africa are not yet stable. With Somalia next door, there is a danger of its instability affecting neighboring states," Adan says. "There are borders, but there are no walls. . .It is Somalis who will find a solution, but we should be helped, not left to our own devices." Despite his hard and fast opposition to secessionist Somaliland, Adan is hopeful that agreement can be reached with the *****. "If they get nowhere with the international community," he says, "they might be willing to renegotiate the act of union. We are not against that. Certainly some decentralization would benefit all of the people. "We can find a solution within the framework of Somalia rather than breaking up the country," Adan argues. "We are open to discussion of all these options, short of secession. We can try to find a constitutional system that will satisfy all the groups and parties in Somalia." Listening to Somalia's last foreign minister argue so passionately against a clan-motivated secession of his own homeland from that troubled country, the observer can only conclude that such a peaceful solution will be difficult to find. Nevertheless, confronting the turmoil that has gripped Somalia over the last three years, most Somali political leaders finally may be more interested in compromise than conflict. Source

The Bush administration said Thursday the United States is not recognizing Somaliland as an independent country despite a State Department visit earlier this week by the breakaway Somali region's leader, Dahir Rayale Kahin. U.S. officials say they defer to the African Union on the recognition issue . The luncheon meeting Monday between Kahin and Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs Jendayi Frazer was the highest-level contact between the parties in several years. But officials here insist it does not portend any early U.S. move to recognize the self-proclaimed independent region of northwestern Somalia, but rather is part of broad U.S. contacts with Somali parties and political figures. Somaliland declared its independence in 1991 as the rest of Somalia descended into civil conflict. It has enjoyed relative stability and elected governments, though it lacks international recognition. At a news briefing, State Department Spokesman Sean McCormack said the fact of Monday's meeting does not mean the United States is on the verge of recognizing Somaliland and that U.S. policy on the matter is unchanged . He said U.S. officials believe it important to have contacts with responsible political figures from all over Somalia , who have an interest in building the country's institutions and taking it to, as he put it, a more hopeful future: "Certainly Jendayi's [Frazer's] meetings fall solidly within that category, and it's a policy we are going to continue to pursue," said Sean McCormack. "We have interests in fighting terrorism in Somalia as well as in the Horn of Africa. Part of trying to bring about some greater stability in Somalia , writ large, involves working with the political parties , encouraging the political parties and political leaders in Somali to come together." McCormack said the United States defers to the African Union as the appropriate forum to address the recognition issue. Recent U.N. Security Council resolutions on Somalia, backed by the United States, reaffirm support for the sovereignty, territorial integrity, political independence and unity of the country. The United States has had no diplomatic presence in Mogadishu for more than a decade, but supports the U.N.-backed transitional government there. Officials say they engage with Somaliland as a regional administration. The Somaliland leader also had Washington meetings this week with officials from White House National Security Council, the Defense Department, and the U.S. Agency for International Development. His late predecessor as Somaliland president, Muhammad Ibrahim Egal, had a similar round of Washington meetings in 1999. Source: VOA

Looking through the pictures of the reception/meeting with the Washington DC community I couldnt help but notice a very large and prominent contingent of the Sool community. WAR BEEN BADANAA. Afar nin oo kaliye oo reer Sool ah baa u tegay Riyaale hotel/reception. Halkan ka eeg magacyadoodii Qaran As far as the Demonstration on Monday is concerned, it was a huge success. Just look at the reaction by the secessionists. You have to call all the way to Hargeisa to demonstrate when you could'nt muster a counter demonstration in Washington.

Is that all you can show? Picture of Dulles airport terminal. WOW. Scared? Absoultley not. We are just trying to expose your Pathetic lies. If that makes us haters, so be it. War dadka beenta ka dayaa oo isku xishooda.

What a bunch of crap. Two S/L tax drivers picked him up from the airport. Nobody was there to welcome the poor guy. No State Dept. officials, not even die hard S/L were there to great him. So Keep on dreaming and manufacturing things up. And keep the good work for lying and fooling your poor folks back home.

RALLY FOR SOMALI UNITY PRESS RELEASE January 10, 2008, Washington, D.C. The coalition for United Somalia (CUS), consisting of over several Somali and Somali-American organizations will be holding peaceful demonstrations to rally Somali communities everywhere to stand up for the unity and territorial integrity of the Republic of Somaliaand oppose the harebrained, secession scheme being advocated by political hacks " Somaliland". Two demonstrations will take place on Monday January 14, 2008. The first demonstration will be held at the United States Department of State(State Department)and will commence at 11:00AM. The second demonstration will take place at the United States Capitol (Capitol Hill) and will commence at 2:30PM. The purpose of these demonstrationsare many fold: * to warn the Riyale Regime in Hargeisa that Somali unity is sacrosanct * to inform the US government, NGOs and the American public at large that the scheme, to dismember Somalia in order to advance clan hegemony in the north, is a dangerous proposition that will ignite a fresh civil war in the relatively peaceful Northwest and Northeast regions of Somalia, and * to demonstrate that national unity and peace is better than war and instability. Click here for more info.

May be you can believe this Reuters Report. May be its another conspiracy report. Noooooooo Somali president in London for more medical checks 6 Jan 6, 2008 - 8:16:33 PM ADDIS ABABA, Jan 6 (Reuters) - Somali President Abdullahi Yusuf arrived in London on Sunday from Addis Ababa for further medical checks, a Somali diplomat said. Yusuf, who was rushed to Nairobi a month ago suffering from a chest complaint, arrived in the Ethiopian capital on Thursday from the government stronghold of Baidoa in south-central Somalia. The 73-year-old president received a liver transplant nearly 14 years ago and has had to go abroad for specialist treatment on numerous occasions. He went to London for scheduled tests last month. "This morning the president landed safe and sound in London," Yusuf Mohamed Ismail, the Somali ambassador to the U.N. European office in Geneva, said by telephone. "He is back in London to receive part of the results of the medical tests he underwent and to undergo any new ones if necessary." Ethiopian officials confirmed Yusuf's departure. Since the 1990s, Yusuf's health has been under scrutiny. However, those close to him say he is strong and can handle the stress of Somalia's anarchic politics. His interim government, with Ethiopian military backing, has fought Islamist insurgents in the capital Mogadishu for the past year in a conflict that has cost 6,500 lives Source: Reuters

The Reckless Adventurism of Riyaale's Somaliland By: Maxamuud Axmed Jaamac "Jengeli" Nearly three months ago the forces of Somaliland entered the capital of the *********** clan and planted the ***** SNM flag. In the aftermath of this disaster a general meeting of the *********** Chiefs and intellectuals was convened. The principle outcome of this meeting was the unprecedented unity of purpose and concord achieved by the *********** elders on the crucial issue facing our clan: the expulsion of the SNM militias through any means necessary. They also agreed to hold an inquiry seeking to hold the Puntland leadership accountable for their lapse in safeguarding the integrity and security of Puntland Region. Today the region is on the brink of all out war because of the reckless of adventurism of the Somaliland administration in their invasion of Laascaanood. It is quite true that Somaliland enjoys some support among the *********** and that the armed takeover of Laascaanood was facilitated by *********** personalities affiliated with the Somaliland administration. But Somaliland authorities also knew that those personalities did not enjoy widespread support and that there was little enthusiasm for the cause of Somaliland among the *********** at large, and indeed, in the city of Laascaanood. In fact, the opposite is true and there is a widespread loathing for the secessionist stance of the ***** among the ***********. And this narrative was borne out by the facts emerging from post-occupation Laascaanood: tens of thousands of people have fled from the city either out of fear for their lives or out of an unwillingness to shelter under the SNM flag that was hoisted by the Somaliland forces. The *********** have mobilized extensively and are poised to attack on many fronts. They are faced by a large and heavily dug-in Somaliland forces supported by recently mobilized tribal levies. This situation has the potential seriously to get out of hand by engulfing more areas of Northern Somalia in the fighting, thus causing more bloodshed and fleeing civilians, from Zeylac to Laascaanood. The blame for this has to be laid at the feet of the Somaliland authorities who gave the green light to the incautious policy of gradual encroachmen(Ruqaansi) that was started in 2003. They convinced themselves that only by reaching the colonially demarcated borders of the ex-British Somaliland would the international community grant their cherished dreams of state recognition. Dreams that would hardly be realized amid the ruins, carnage and slaughter of the conflict they created. The previous leadership of Somaliland wisely perceived the potential dangers to their administration if an attempt was made forcibly to yoke the proud *********** nation into Somaliland. Under the late President Maxamed Ibraahim Cigaal, Somaliland always refrained from any gestures perceived to be hostile to the integrity of the *********** clan. One one occasion, he went so far as to issue orders to his officials to desist from carrying out any election activities in *********** regions when Somaliland took to the ballots. He took this wise decision after he received a request from a conclave of *********** chiefs that any Somaliland election acitivities among the *********** would be problematic. President Cigaal heeded their counsel because of his immense respect for the *********** elders and indeed the entire clan, to say nothing of his outstanding political instincts and statesmanship. Against this we must contrast the reckless performance of Mr. Daahir Riyaale Kaahin, Cigaal's successor. Riyaale is the man who destroyed the peace that was enjoyed by the people of the North. He brought war and conflict to Sool, Sanaag and Cayn regions. He committed the crime of breaking the peace by invading the hitherto peaceful city of Laascaanood and provocatively planting the flag of the SNM in Laascaanood. He compounded this injury by adding insult to it. In a BBC interview broadcast on 3 January, 2008, Riyaale stated that the *********** will benefit from Somaliland occupation because HE WILL BUILD TOILETS for them in Laascaanood! In other words Riyaale has offended two of the most cherished sensibilities of the ***********: Gobanimo and Xarrago. He directed a grave insult at the liberty Gobanimo) of the *********** by planting the alien SNM flag on their soil and, at the same time, lowering the Sacred Blue and White flag of Somalia. He also directed a grave insult at the Pride and Dignity (Xarrago) of the clan by making the demeaning comments he spoke on the BBC. President Riyaale more than anyone else should know the mindset of the ***********. He served as the head of the Secret Police office in Laascaanood while serving in National Security Service( NSS) of the Siyaad government. He was widely respected as an honest and diligent government servant. By all accounts the respect was mutual. Riyaale knows the attitude and beliefs of the *********** clan and their fierce hatred for oppression. And he knows the offense that his careless TOILET remarks would give to the proud *********** nation. Perhaps the TOILET remarks were in fact deliberate. Such offenses will neither go unanswered nor unpunished. The right and proper course for Mr Riyaale and the Somaliland administration is to give a fulsome apology for those remarks. And to effect a rapid withdrawal of all Somaliland forces from Sool region.To do any less would inevitably result in laments of .. LUMAYEEY ... LAASCAANO LUGGOOYO WEYNAA Source: jidbaale

Safaarada Ingiriiska ee Adis-ababa oo Riyaale u Diiday Fiisihii uu ku iman lahaa iyaga oo amar ku siiyay inuu soo qaato Passportka cusub ee Somalia oo ah kay aqoonsanyihiin Dawladaha caalamka oo dhan. Adis-ababa 05-01-08 Waxaa manta soo shaac baxday inuu hakad galay safarkii uu Madaxwaynaha Maamulka la magic baxay Somaliland uu ku iman lahaa dalka ingiriiska isaga oo usii gudbi lahaa wadanka maraykanka. Hakadka ku yimi Safarka Madaxwaynaha Maamulka Somaliland ayaan ayaan wax ka waydiinay xubno ka tirsan wafdigiisa oo codsaday inaan magacooda la shaacin, waxayna Xubnahaasi noo Xaqiijiyeen in Safaarada Ingiriiska ee ku taala Magaalada Addis-ababa ay u diiday Riyaale & wafdigiisaba fiisayaashay ku tagi lahaayeen dalka Ingiriiska. Iyaga oo ku war geliyay in Xukuumada Ingiriisku ay Aqoonsantahay Passportka Cusub ee Dawlada Faderaalka Soomaaliya ayna fiise siin karaa Dublamaasiyiinta sita passportka Diplomaasiga ah ee Dawlada Federaalka Soomaaliya, iyaga oo intaas raaciyay in hadii ay u ogolaadaan Riyaale inay Passport Somaliland leedahay ay Fiise ku siiyaan inay la macno tahay inay Xukuumadoodu Aqoonsantahay Maamulka Somaliland. Sidoo kale ayaa waxaa jira warar sheegaya in Safaarada Maraykankuna ay Taagantahay Mawqifkaas mid la mida ayna Riyaale ugu baaqeen habka kaliya ee uu safarkiisa ku sii wadan karaa inay tahay isaga oo soo qaata Passportka cusub ee Diplomaasiga ah ee ay dhawaan Dawlada Fedaraalku soo saartay. Dad badan oo Sharci yaqaano ah ayaa arrintan soo dhaweeyay kuna tilmaamay inay tahay Tilaabo fiican oo cashar u noqonaysa Maamulka Soomaalidiidka ah ee Riyaale madaxda ka yahay. Xukuumada Maraykanka & tan Ingiriiska ayaa labadooduba iska fogeeyay Wararka sheegaya inay Wadankooda ku casuumeen maamulka Riyaale wafdi ka socda waxayna yiraahdeen ilaa & hada waanu maqlaynaa casuumaada Maamulka Somaliland sheegayaan inay ka heleen maamulkayaga balse anagu waxaanu aragnay oo Wafdiga Riyaale uu noo keenay Casuumaad uga Timi nin Shacaba oo reer Maraykan ah kana mid ah Ururada u Dooda Xuquuqda Khaniisiinta waa sida uu hadalka u dhigeen Saraakiil u hadashay Labada Safaaradood. Arrintan ayaa waxay Meesha ka saartay Wararkii Maalmahan la isla dhex marayay oo sheegayay in Riyaale & Maamulkiisu ay Casuumaad ka heleen Xukuumada Maraykanka isla markaasna ay ka wada hadli doonaan Sidii Somaliland ay u Noqon lahayd Maamul ka madax banaana Soomaaliya Inteeda kale, looguna Aqoonsan lahaa Dawlad gooniya. Wixii kasoo kordha Arrinkan & Waraaqdii casuumaada ee uu Wafdiga Riyaale ka helay Nin Ka mida Urur u Dooda Xuquuqda Khaniisiintaba waxaan idinkugusoo gudbin doonaa wararkayaga danbe. Source: WidhWidh Online

Somali rallies give voice to division over homeland Local gatherings present different views of the role of Ethiopia in Somalia. By ELBERT AULL Staff Writer December 31, 2007 Dozens of local Somalis gathered in Portland on Sunday in a show of support for the transitional Somali government -- the fragile, U.N.-backed administration caught up in a bloody fight for control of the country. The crowd denounced terrorism and the Islamic Courts Union, the Islamist opposition group that briefly wrested control of Somalia from the transitional government last year. "We are against these radicals and extremists," said elder Noor Ismail of Portland. The rally was the second time in three days that local Somalis gathered in downtown Portland to speak out about the state of their homeland. The demonstrations Friday and Sunday presented both sides of a dispute over whether Ethiopian troops should remain in Somalia to fight an Islamic insurgency -- and whether that insurgency has its roots in an organization that could bring peace to the African nation. About 60 protesters called for Ethiopian troops to leave Somalia during a demonstration Friday in Monument Square. On Sunday, the crowd of nearly 100 responded with a rally in support of the transitional government, Ethiopian peacekeeping forces and an end to the ICU. "Ethiopia is our neighbor. They are trying to help us," said Saeed Osman, 26, of Portland. Maine is home to about 5,000 Somalis, most of whom fled their country during the civil wars of the 1990s. For more than a year, they have closely followed news reports of clashes between the Transitional Federal Government and rival ICU, which took the capital, Mogadishu, in June of 2006 and controlled much of the country by December. The mostly Christian Ethiopia feared the group would pose a threat and intervened on behalf of Somalia's transitional government, sending tanks, troops and aircraft to fight the Islamists. The ICU declared holy war against Ethiopia, but was quickly defeated. Those loyal to the organization maintained an insurgency in Somalia, while Ethiopian troops remained to comprise the bulk of an international peacekeeping force. The dispute drew the attention of much of the African, Arab and Western world because of reports from the United States and U.N. that linked the ICU to militant Islamic groups including Hezbollah and al-Qaida. Local Somalis have expressed a wide range of opinions since the Ethiopian intervention. Some are wary of Ethiopia's role as peacekeepers in their struggling country, given a history of conflict between the border nations that includes bloody wars in the 1960s and 1970s. They said the Islamists brought order to what were once lawless streets before the intervention. "They brought the country peace," Mohamud Barre of Portland, who helped organize the earlier rally, said of the ICU. Barre said Ethiopian troops have not forgotten the bad blood between their nations and have indiscriminately targeted Somali citizens in response to insurgent attacks. "They are targeting every Somali. They think, 'Kill him before he kills you. Shoot him before he shoots you,' " he said. The U.N. says fighting and food shortages in Mogadishu have forced an estimated 600,000 people from their homes in the past year. But supporters of the transitional government see no hope for a peaceful Somalia unless the Islamists are driven out. They believe the Islamists are linked to al-Qaida -- so do U.S. officials, although the ICU denies the charge -- and said their homeland's geographic location on the Horn of Africa makes it attractive to terrorist groups looking for a place to plan attacks throughout the Middle East and Africa. The crowd at Sunday's rally called for continued U.S. support for the transitional government. Many waved American flags; one woman held a sign that read: "God Bless America." "We want to see peace in our home," said elder Mohamed Issak of Portland, who helped organize the rally. Soure: pressherald.mainetoday

Excellent and comprehensive. Thanks for sharing.