Originally posted by HornAfrique: Mark my words, the United Nations arms embargo on the Republic of Somalia will not be lifted. Also, "Somali_weyn" why this obsession with the arms embargo? Does not Abdulahi Yusuf's transitional administration already receive arms from Yemen and Ethiopia, among other nations, unofficially? How is the lifting of the arms embargo in the interest of the Somali nation when the sound effects of the old bunch are still ringing? In your infatuation with the lifting of the arms embargo, do you believe only the TFG will be allowed weapons as opposed to any warlord that can afford to buy them? In this instance, I do believe that wasiirada hubeysan have shown more political shrewdness and "love" of the Somali nation then our president by standing against the lifting of the arms embargo, even though its lifting will also send a green light to the various warlords and their international supporters to import weapons officially. Remember, if Ethiopia gives weapons to Abdulahi Yusuf, it is highly likely the Arabs will give weapons to the warlords and vice versa. What could you possible deem a success for the arms embargo to be lifted :confused: I don't want to Mark your words they always come out false Remember when you told me Cabduallhi yusuf would NOW become President you also said to Mark that and I did but came out to be false he overwhemly won the eletions. What you have to understand is it's not about the arms we need non-Somalians Army to help rer store hope in our fallen Nation. The national army of Somalia is being call the Puntland army. Somalians can't help Somalians any-more we need outsiders and the lifting of the arms embargo will do just that. At this moment the Government and War-lords are equal but when the arms enbargo is lifted the Government will have the upper hand.

Brother Horn your question was:Does Igad "urging" the arms embargo be lifted constitute a promise the arms embargo will be lifted? read the sentence in bold and you tell me. "On March 17, 2006, Francois Lonseny Fall, the UN secretary-general's special envoy for Somalia implied that the UN Security Council will lift the arms embargo on Somalia , if the Inter-Governmental Authority on Development (IGAD) makes such a request."

"On March 17, 2006, Francois Lonseny Fall, the UN secretary-general's special envoy for Somalia implied that the UN Security Council will lift the arms embargo on Somalia , if the Inter-Governmental Authority on Development (IGAD) makes such a request." They "IGAD" also urged the United Nations to lift an arms embargo on Somalia and supported the body's appeal for food for the country. THERE YOU HAVE IT PEOPLE THE ARMS EMBARGO ON SOMALIA IS GOING TO BE LIFTED.

Seven countries yesterday agreed to deploy security forces to Somalia to help find lasting peace in the country. Under the Inter-Governmental Authority on Development, the countries also agreed to establish a regional emergency fund involving the private sector to fight ravaging famine in the Horn of Africa. In a 56-point communiqué released after a one-day Summit in Nairobi, Presidents Kibaki, Omar El Bashir (Sudan), Abdullahi Yusuf (Somalia), Yoweri Museveni (Uganda) and Ismael Omar Guelleh (Djibouti) further welcomed the progress made in the implementation of peace deal for Sudan. Ethiopia's Prime Minister, Mr Meles Zenawi and an Eritrean Government official, also signed the agreement reached at Grand Regency Hotel, which saw the leaders cut a cake to celebrate Igad's 20th anniversary. The resolutions, read by Foreign Affairs minister Raphael Tuju, also urged the international community to help Southern Sudan and Somalia recover from many years of war. Pledges made during a donors' meeting in Oslo, Norway, last year, should be honoured to help in the reconstruction of Southern Sudan, they said. However, leaders said aid for the implementation of a Comprehensive Peace Agreement between the Khartoum Government and Sudan People's Liberation Movement/Army should not be tied to the success of the Darfur peace process. If the CPA succeeds, it would help in the search for peace in Darfur and President Bashir promised cooperation in the efforts. The leaders, most of whom jetted back home immediately after the Summit, also called for an immediate start of repatriation and resettlement of refugees and other displaced persons in Southern Sudan. The leaders said the deployment of a peace mission to Somalia should be followed by an African Union team, but were unclear when it would be done. They also urged the United Nations to lift an arms embargo on Somalia and supported the body's appeal for food for the country. The leaders expressed concern over the upsurge of piracy and terrorism on the Somali coastline and vowed to fight the vice. The governments further promised to increase allocations to agriculture to 10 per cent of national budgets to help find lasting solutions to persistent famine in the region. Food shortages President Abdullahi Yusuf of Somalia, Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi with Presidents Yoweri Museveni (Uganda), Kibaki and Omar El Bashir (Sudan) at the IGAD meeting in Nairobi. Photo/Fredrick Omondi -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- President Kibaki took over from President Museveni as Igad chairman during yesterday's meeting. Some 11 million people in Kenya, Ethiopia, Sudan, Somalia, Eritrea and Djibouti are faced with serious food shortages due to drought and conflicts and the fund is to target donors "who would like to deal with the region as a unit as opposed to individual countries," Mr Tuju said. The minister said the international community preferred to deal with a fund and that if formed, relief rations would be distributed across borders. They also appealed to donors to help address threats of bird flu in the region. President Kibaki took over from President Museveni as Igad chairman during yesterday's function. Source: Daily Nation, Mar. 21, 2006

AMIN AMIN AMIN.

Boqor Maxamuud Boqor Muuse Ilaahay ha u naxariisto.May Allah grant him Jannah. Amin! Amin! Amin!

11 million kilos of qaad Does anyone know how much a kilo costs? :eek: :eek: :eek:

Ethiopia extorts 40 million dollars in Qaad taxs -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- By Somalilandtimes network ADDIS ABABA, March 8, 2006 -- Ethiopia said Wednesday it has garnered over 36 million U.S. dollars from the export of various agricultural produces to neighboring Somalia in the past eight months since July last year. Amare Gebremariam, senior official with the Ethiopian Customs Authority, told journalists that the stated sum of revenue is collected from the export of live animals, animal products and khat. Amare said over 24,000 live animals, 589,000 liters of milk and over 11 million kg of khat have been exported to Somalia via the eastern border town of Jijiga. The revenue secured in the stated period has shown an increase of over 1.38 million dollars from the same period of the previous fiscal year (July 2004-June 2005), he said. He attributed the cross-border trade increase to the peaceful situation in Somaliland, an unrecognized de facto state located in northwest Somalia. In May 1991, Somaliland people declared an independent Republic of Somaliland that now includes six of the eighteen administrative regions of Somalia, roughly the region between Ethiopia, Djibouti, Gulf of Aden and Somalia. Source: Xinhuanet

Originally posted by Alle-ubaahne: Whether that is a crime or not, we all support the notion of Quran-based government, and that is an obligation to undertake upon every Allah-fearing Muslim. Those who oppose the fake government for somalia otherwise deserve the blame, but opposing this goverment thru legitimate reasons based on the Quran and Sunnah we believe is welcome. So, what is the news about that article other than showing the west that we're anti their rules and regulations when it comes to government? Brother I agree with you 100% we all support the notion of Quran-based government but is't it to late for the notion to be made now after a non-quran-based government was made. Why are the so called sheikhs speaking out know? why not two years ago huh? I think it's to late for a debate of what kind of government we need. We got one and we should work with this government. Any one that once to oppose this government is up to something and must be fought off!

Originally posted by codetalker: quote:Does Puntland need a Guurti assembly (House of Elders)? In my opinion, no, I don't think Puntland needs to establish a strict legal framework for the mediation of the Issims . The Issims' success in northeastern Somalia (Puntland today) in the post-91 era has been largely due in part to their functioning within their comfort zones, i.e. outside the system. Traditionally, the Issims' mediation role wasn't dictated by written constitutional laws - they succeeding by using the Somali way of mediation, which is not limited, if you will, by written laws. Take Islaan Ciise Islaan Maxamad's role in the Garoowe incident. What constitutional role does that type of mediation fall under? I think turning the Issims into members of a government risks the chance of politicizing their traditional role and attracts criticism from all corners. They should stick to their current role as mediators between the various social groups in the region. p.s. Remember during the Col Yeey-Jama Ali Jama power struggle, the Issims came under fire for their interference in strictly political matters? It was a very ugly episode and they came under fire from all directions. I somewhat agree with your brother but it's the 21 century Issims don't seem to have the respect they use to have. What you have to understand is Issims are politicians themselfs. So they need to be in the government for their voice to be heard. Somali politics is clan politics.

Range is a Private company from what I know. If half of what Range says is true then Puntland is going to make some money. So will the rest of the country if we become one.

Somali cleric predicts defiance of new gov't March 5, 2006 By Guled Mohamed MOGADISHU (Reuters) - A hardline Somali cleric with big influence in Mogadishu has said Muslims will oppose the Horn of Africa's fledgling new government because it is based on anti-Islamic principles. "A government that does not rule by the book of God does not deserve support," Sheikh Hassan Dahir Aweis, 61, told Reuters at his house in Mogadishu. Aweis, who is on a U.S. list of most wanted terrorists and runs one of Mogadishu's powerful sharia courts, said the new interim administration formed in Kenya in 2004 cannot be supported because it was organised on secular lines. That would clash with the Islamic sharia law that suits the largely Muslim nation of 10 million people, he argued. "Such a government will only bring losses because people will clash, hate and disobey it and so it will not have authority over them," he said in the weekend interview. The government, led by President Abdullahi Yusuf, relocated to Somalia last year but has been unable to impose authority on the country and remains based in the provincial town of Jowhar due to fears over security in the capital Mogadishu. It is unclear how much popular support it can command. Somalia has been without proper central government since warlords toppled former dictator Mohamed Siad Barre in 1991. The new government aims to move to Mogadishu once it has guarantees for safety and resolves a rift within its ranks. Aweis said Islamists would not oppose the government with violence, but doubted it would have any success. "We cannot stop them from coming to Mogadishu or fight them," he said. "We feel that they are very weak people who cannot even help themselves, people who do not even think about the people's needs but only their selfish desires." Aweis resurfaced in 2004 after vanishing amid heightened U.S. scrutiny after the September 11 attacks. Western security services see Somalia as a potential safe-haven for terrorists. He runs the Ifka Halanka Islamic court in north Mogadishu. The courts are the only source of organised justice for the city's nearly one million people. A former soldier, Aweis started preaching in the late 1970s and has a burning desire to see Somalia under sharia law. Aweis said it was Somalia's only way out of its current turmoil and lawlessness. "We have done a lot of ground work," he said. "We are confident that soon people will be ready to be governed by the sharia law." He urged Yusuf's government to view the Islamists not as enemies but as a legitimate opposition group. Source: Reuters, Mar 05, 2006 Contact:webmaster@hiiraan.com Copyright © 2006 Hiiraan Online

By Jamie Freed The Sydney Morning Herald March 5, 2006 RANGE Resources has attempted to quell investor concerns about its latest exploration play, claiming Somalia's semi-autonomous state of Puntland contains a wealth of minerals and few security problems. The Australian-listed explorer took issue with a story in the Herald last week that referred to a border skirmish between Puntland and the neighbouring state of Somaliland. "There is not, from a company perspective, a 'violent' border dispute between Puntland and Somaliland," Range told the stock exchange. The company also denied sending teams into the disputed area, contradicting statements company secretary Peter Landau made to the Herald last week. Neither Mr Landau nor executive directors Jim Marinis and Mike Povey could be reached for comment on Friday. In its statement to the stock exchange, Range said its exploration teams had confirmed that Puntland contained gold, coal, lead and silver prospects based on visits to former mines. Range has the right to 50.1 per cent of all mineral and petroleum exploration and development in Puntland, and is looking for joint venture partners to help develop its projects. Range signed the deal with Puntland's government last year and insists the state and neighbouring Somaliland have been "secure and stable for some years with democratic elections being utilised to elect parliamentary representatives". But a report from the BBC last week suggested Puntland was not immune to violence or the threat of a coup. The BBC website said gunmen loyal to Puntland's planning minister entered the parliament building before being forced out by security forces. Two militiamen and a civilian were killed. The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade has warned against all travel to Somalia and does not maintain an embassy in the country. Asked whether the same warning applied to the state of Puntland, a DFAT spokeswoman said: "The travel advice for Somalia reflects our best knowledge over the safety and security of the country overall. "If we had advice the threat differed in specific regions, that would be reflected in the travel advisory." Regions are not differentiated in DFAT's travel advisory for Somalia. DFAT could not comment on whether an agreement with the Puntland government would be considered binding, because the state has not declared independence from Somalia's central government. Range rose 0.1c to 4.2c on Friday. Source: The Sydney Morning Herald, Mar 05, 2006 Contact:webmaster@hiiraan.com Copyright © 2006 Hiiraan Online

Cairo, March 4, (BNA) During a meeting held in Cairo, today, the Arab Ministerial Committee, concerned with Somalia, forwarded an Arab strategy on supporting Somalia in all fields by reinforcing the interim government institutions in a bid to bring back security and stability to Somalia. The Ministerial Committee, formed of eleven Arab countries and chaired by the Arab League's Secretary General, Amr Mussa, urged all Arab countries to contribute to the USD 26 million Somalia Support Fund, help the country meet its urgent needs. The Committee welcomed the positive developments and achievements reached by the Somali Reconciliation Operation and especially Aden Declaration, reached under the auspices of Yemeni President, Ali Abdullah Salah. The Committee also expressed its appreciation of the steps taken in implementing Aden Declaration such as the meeting of the Somali Parliament and the call, made to the Somali factions to cooperate positively with the Somali president and institutions in order to consummate reconciliation and build the state's institutions. Source: http://english.bna.bh/?ID=42031

SOMALIA IS NEXT THEN! AND THAT'S SOMETHING WE ARE NOT READY TO FIGHT BECAUSE WE ARE NOT DONE FIGHTING OURSELFS YET WHICH IS REALLY SAID.

SOUTH OF BOSSASO, Somalia, March 1 (UNHCR) – As dawn breaks over the desert at the start of what will be another merciless, scorching day, an overloaded truck slows to a stop and a small band of five men and two women hop down and head for a small rocky hill not far from the road. These young Ethiopians – already on the road by truck and by foot for up to 15 days – are nearing their destination, Bossaso, the commercial capital of Puntland in north-east Somalia, a port town that has become a magnet for migrant workers and former refugees from all corners of this Horn of Africa country. "I left Ethiopia because I need to go to work," says one of the Ethiopian men, stopping briefly before heading over the hills to sneak past a police checkpoint into town. "There is no work at home. Without work, you are not living," the 22-year-old says in English. He's heard a lot about Bossaso, whose bustling port offers a chance for casual jobs that pay US$1 a day. "When I get the chance, I will work any place." Bossaso is an unlikely El Dorado. It's a dusty town without a single paved street, not one neon sign, and scarcely a building over one storey. But it's largely peaceful and relatively secure, and that counts for a lot in Somalia. (Puntland has its own government and has proclaimed its autonomy to distinguish itself from lawless south and central Somalia, but it has not declared independence.) So people are pouring into Bossaso – former refugees who have returned to their own country but not their own villages, Somalis who have given up on their homes in the south of the country, migrants from southern Somalia and Ethiopia passing through to catch smugglers' boats for Yemen and the Gulf States, and some Ethiopians who say they are fleeing persecution and need asylum. "I would rather stay in Bossaso," says Raho Rasoni, a Somali woman who's been displaced from her home village for more than half her life. Two years ago she fled the country's violent capital with her husband and 10 children, afraid that it was inevitable one of them would die in the senseless gunfire on Mogadishu's lawless streets. "One hundred percent, this is much better than Mogadishu," says Raho, welcoming visitors to the three shacks made of sticks lined with empty cement bags, which she shares with her family in Shabelle shanty settlement on the outskirts of Bossaso. "I pray God will not take me back to Mogadishu." Shabelle – apparently named after the central Somali region which many of its displaced residents fled – offers peace and some modicum of security, but little more, Raho concedes. Her husband works whenever he can. "One day he's got money, one day he doesn't," she says. "The time he gets work, we cook; the time he doesn't, we don't." Holding her two-year-old child in her lap, and surrounded by the rest of her brood, she says matter-of-factly: "Today they didn't have breakfast, and we're not sure they will get lunch." Despite the fact that they get little in the way of city services, the many newcomers still place a strain on the town. "Bossaso can't cope with this huge migration of people coming from wide corners of the region," says Khadiyo Yusuf Ahmed, who runs a mother and child healthcare clinic in the city. Its buildings were rehabilitated by UNHCR and its funding comes from other UN agencies and private charities. UNHCR and other United Nations agencies plan to submit a Comprehensive Plan of Action (CPA) to donors to help place Somalia's citizens on a more stable footing by protecting returnees and internally displaced people, including improving the nutrition of women and children, improving access to clean water and sanitation and increasing access to health care and education. The plan also proposes helping people make a living to support themselves, and to help reduce the incidence of the risky human smuggling from Bossaso across the Gulf of Aden. Compilation of the CPA was funded by the European Commission. A visit to any of the shanty settlements inhabited by people displaced from other parts of Somalia (including former refugees who settled here instead of going to their own villages) shows there is room for huge improvements in their standard of living. Eighty-five percent of the people in these settlements use contaminated water, and have to walk up to 20 minutes to fetch even that, according to a study by the Somali Reunification Women's Union (SRWU), a private non-governmental organization. Three-quarters of the residents have no access to a toilet or latrine. Half the residents of these settlements eat only one meal a day; 47 percent have two meals a day. Virtually no one eats the three meals a day that people in the West largely regard as their birthright. Despite the squalor of the settlements, 90 percent of residents told SRWU they prefer these settlements to their original homes because of security and access to employment in Bossaso. Only three percent want to go home to other parts of Somalia; the other 97 percent want to stay in Bossaso. "Because Puntland does not receive any bilateral aid from individual countries, and has few sources of income on its own, it is really up to the United Nations and partner agencies, with the support of the international community, to improve the lives of these desperate people," says Guillermo Bettocchi, Nairobi-based UNHCR Representative for Somalia. "It is an investment well worth making," he adds, "because stability in Somalia would mean a great deal for the stability of Africa and even the security of the world. Somalia is very strategically located in the Horn of Africa. A prosperous Somalia could be a real gateway to an economically vibrant Africa." Meanwhile, back in Shabelle settlement, Raho, now expecting her 11th child, views her future far away from her home village with rather cheerful resignation. "Most of my life I have been displaced," she says, "and I expect to remain the same." Source:UNHCR, Mar. 01, 2006 Contact:webmaster@hiiraan.com Copyright © 2006 Hiiraan Online

Those pictures look bad.

Waryaa Salahuddin Ayoubi why is the approval of Gaagaab a major disappointment?

WITH GOD HELP THINGS WILL GO WELL.

I have one question which is will the fighting in Xamar have an affect on the parliament meeting?

By Guled Mohamed BAIDOA, Somalia, Feb 23 (Reuters) - Lawmakers arrived in the Somali town of Baidoa on Thursday for the first meeting of the country's parliament on home soil, days after heavy clashes in the capital Mogadishu underscored the tough challenges ahead. About 50 of the 275 members of the legislature swept into Baidoa in a convoy of cars and pick-up trucks mounted with heavy machineguns and manned by militiamen, ahead of the assembly's historic Feb. 26 session in the south-central town. Rival factions in Somalia's interim administration, formed in the relative safety of neighbouring Kenya in late 2004, last month raised hopes of ending anarchy in the country when they agreed on a time and place for Sunday's meeting. But heavy fighting in Mogadishu -- described by residents as the worst in recent memory -- has once again highlighted the general lawlessness in the Horn of Africa country, which has been without a functioning government for the last 15 years. Residents said about 38 people died in clashes that began on Saturday between militia loyal to Mogadishu's Islamic courts and a newly formed coalition of nearly all the city's major warlords, dubbing itself the Mogadishu Anti-Terrorism Coalition. Many of the victims were civilians. It was not immediately clear what sparked the fighting. But a low-level conflict has been brewing between Islamist groups and some warlords in the new coalition who are known to sell counter-terrorism information to Western governments, including the United States. That has led to isolated assassinations, particularly against former military or police officers, in the last year. By Tuesday night, residents said relative calm had returned to the port city of one million. "Fighting has ceased. I don't know if it (the calm) will continue, but elders from both sides are meeting," said Abdullhi Sheikh Hassan, a member of the anti-terrorism coalition. Each side blamed the other for the hostilities. Sharia courts function unofficially in part of Mogadishu and are the only form of semi-organised justice for the city. Fighting among Somalia's myriad of clans has been common since warlords overthrew former dictator Mohamed Siad Barre in 1991 and took over the nation of about 10 million. The transitional government has proved fragile and fractious and has so far been unable to rein in the powerful warlords and their militias, and disagreed over where the government should initially be based inside Somalia. But its two main factions moved last month to end the rift that has paralysed Somalia, agreeing to the date and place of parliament's first meeting in the country. Baidoa was seen as neutral ground and a compromise solution. (Additional reporting by Mohamed Ali Bile in Mogadishu)

MPs set for Baidoa parliamentary meeting NAIROBI, 23 Feb 2006 (IRIN) - Preparations for the first meeting of the Somali transitional federal parliament inside the war-torn country are on schedule and members have started arriving for the session, one of the organisers said. The 26 February meeting is due to take place in Baidoa town, 240 km southwest of the capital, Mogadishu. "The plan to hold the session in Baidoa is on track. As of this moment everything, including the conference hall and accommodations, is in place," Isak Mohamed Nur, who is also the local MP, said. All militias have been moved out of the town and encamped in former military barracks, he added. "We have 400 specially selected men who will provide the security," Nur told IRIN on Thursday. The members of the interim parliament (MPs) have been arriving in Baidao over the past two weeks. Some 42 Mogadishu-based MPs arrived on Wednesday. "We expect another batch from Puntland today [Thursday]," Nur said. The last batch, he added, would arrive on Friday from the Kenyan capital, Nairobi. "If all goes according to plan, most of the cabinet and government should be in Baidoa by Friday [24 February]," he said. Nur said President Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed and Prime Minister Ali Muhammad Gedi were expected in Baidoa on Saturday. The president would open the session the following day. The historical meeting was announced by the speaker of the parliament, Sharif Hassan Shaykh Aden, on 30 January in the presence of Yusuf, after days of consultations with Gedi in Nairobi. At a three-day meeting in Yemen in early January, Yusuf and Aden agreed to convene the first session of parliament inside Somalia within 30 days. [ENDS] Source: IRIN, Feb. 23, 2006 Contact:webmaster@hiiraan.com Copyright © 2006 Hiiraan Online