Mortars, killings shake Mogadishu as violence unabated MOGADISHU, Jan 26 (Reuters) - Mortars hit a Mogadishu residential area and two men were shot dead overnight in the latest violence in a city the Somali government is struggling to pacify after the ouster of hardline Islamists. In neighbouring Kenya -- where some defeated Islamist fighters have fled -- five young men of Somali origin carrying U.S., French, Tunisian and Syrian passports were arrested at the border, local newspapers reported. In what looked like a targeted killing in the lawless Somali capital, a man was blindfolded and shot dead late on Thursday in Mogadishu's Tarbuunka Square, witnesses said. "Three men came out of a vehicle holding a blindfolded man. They shot him then drove away," said a resident who saw the assassination. The other man was shot in Bakara market, residents said. Details of both incidents were murky. But they added to tensions in a city hit by a string of attacks in recent days aimed at the Somali government and its Ethiopian military allies who helped them topple the Islamists in a two-week offensive over Christmas and New Year. Two mortars bombs fired by unknown assailants hit the northern Madina neighbourhood overnight. "One of the mortars hit a house totally destroying a room. ... The family members were lucky to survive. The second mortar fell on a road seriously injuring a pedestrian," said a resident, who gave his name as Abdirahman. Many suspect hardcore remnants of the Somalia Islamic Courts Council (SICC) are behind such attacks, but there are many enemies of the government including warlord and clan militias plus criminals. Some residents and analysts fear a slide back to the anarchy Somalia has suffered for the last 16 years. AFRICAN MISSION To prevent that, the African Union (AU) wants to send in nearly 8,000 peacekeepers. Its foreign ministers were discussing that on Friday at AU headquarters in Ethiopia, which wants its troops out but has promised not leave a security vacuum. Uganda, Malawi and Nigeria have pledged troops, while South Africa and Rwanda have ruled out deploying. Mozambique and others are considering contributing. It remains to be seen who will give all of the troops for the AU operation, which would be only its second since a shaky mission to Sudan's Darfur region. "We are confident that if we are able to meet the logistical and financial requirements, we can deploy the three initial battalions quickly ... in a matter of weeks," AU Peace and Security Commissioner Said Djinnit told reporters. The European Union has pledged to provide funding for the deployment, as has the United States. But EU aid Commissioner Louis Michel has insisted on an inclusive reconciliation and reinstatement of parliament Speaker Sharif Hassan Sheikh Adan -- thrown out for perceived closeness to the Islamists -- before he will disburse the money. That has angered the government and its allies. "The Somali government should have the ownership of the peace process," Ethiopian Foreign Minister Seyoum Mesfin said in Addis Ababa. "No one has the right to bring petty personalities and try to impose them on the peace process." The International Crisis Group watchdog said the international community cannot dictate what the government must do, but should offer political, military and financial support based on the government's commitment to reconciliation. "Failure to grasp this opportunity would mean an all-too familiar story line for Somalia of factional fighting and fractured government," ICG's Horn of Africa project director David Mozersky said in a statement. The government has said it will consider bringing in former Islamists, including top leader Sheikh Sharif Ahmed, if they renounce violence and apologise to Somalis. Ahmed is in Kenyan custody, and a U.S. envoy has met him and urged him to play a role in reconciliation. The government of President Abdullahi Yusuf was set up in 2004 in a 14th attempt to restore central rule to Somalia since dictator Mohamed Siad Barre's ouster in 1991. But having just reached Mogadishu for the first time since then, it now faces a massive challenge to establish its authority and pacify one of the world's most anarchic nations. Kenyan newspapers said five men arrested at Kiunga on the Indian Ocean coast at the Somali border were caught carrying AK-47 rifles, and were now being interrogated by police. Neither Kenyan officials nor diplomats in Nairobi could confirm the Standard and Nation reports that the five included U.S., French, Tunisian and Syrian passport-holders. (Additional reporting by Sahal Abdulle in Mogadishu, Marie-Louise Gumuchian and Opheera McDoom in Addis Ababa, Wangui Kanina in Nairobi, Andrew Quinn in Johannesburg and Ingrid Melander in Brussels)

Truly they are among the hardiest people on the planet.

who will end up marrying these girls? Very good question, it's yet another social issue facing our generation. But, i must say, young women must realise there are educated young Somali men out there. And indeed, education is not (although it may seem so) the be all and end all.

Aye to that. I do not 'oppose' the TFG, because i realise they offer a chance for a different ending to the numerous botched attempts of previous transitional governments to take control of the country.

The meek admit defeat. And Somalis have been anything but meek. Anti-TFG entities will be on stand-by for further conflict, unless the TFG can take full advantage of the respite in the heavy fighting, and prove to an extent that they're capable of some real and honourable governing.

After going through his diagnosis routine, the psychologist will recommend a plausible treatment regime. But have another psychologist assess the same patient and he's liable to submitt equally convincing treatment. Yet, a third psychologist may still come to entirely dissimilar conclusion. Each one of them is right in own way as their prognosis is accompanied by reasoned recommendation. Perhaps it is more of a science than you know Socod_Badne, Psychology, if you'd believe it, involves both a lot of medicine and mathematics. In fact at most universities, Psychology students study part of their degree as part of the biological sciences school, they spend time learning the nervous system, and all other aspects of the body which can contribute or cause psychological abnormalities. I'm sure, although not an expert by any means, that the first thing a psychologist would do is send the patient to get a medical examination done. Therefore i doubt there's the magnitude in variation of diagnosis you are implying. Psychology is a science for a very good reason. It is undertaken through logic and experimentation, trial and error. Daily new discoveries are made, like in all other fields of science. This cannot be said for Law, History, Art,

If he died he would be a somali hero but know he will remebered as the leader of the "mujahideen" who gave himself up at a refugee camp. Perhaps that makes him a greater hero, putting peace in Somalia ahead of his reputation?

we need some proper information on the contract. -When does this contract expire? -What share does the Puntland government get of the production? -Is their share fixed? -Are there any clauses which Range can exploit? This can be potentially very bad for Somalia, Range swindling the Puntland government, and government officials syphoning large amounts of the profits into their own pockets. i'd advise the Puntland government to hire (if they can, its not cheap) a petrol revenue management oganisation, a third party which can ensure Range isn't exploiting Puntland, and which can bring some transparency to the governments management of potential petrol profits.

I still believe that qabiil should be destroyed Me, qabiil is embedded deep within the somali subconcious, it can never be destroyed. What we can do, is create an environment where qabiil plays but a marginal role in both political circles, and the civil society.

Last pic on Paragon's second post shows majid Nawaz, a prominent member of Xisb ut Taxriir, an organisation which advocates for a rebirth of the Khaliifah. He was tortured and held captive by the Egyptian police who arrested him whilst he was talking to some students at a University campus. Right now he is a presenter on the Islam channel. Xisb ut Taxriir organised this demonstration, it seems yet again we Somalis show our ineptitude in organising ourselves.

You can't upload them, you need to supply a URL for an image already on the internet.

^^^America had state again and again that the ICU was an Islamic group linked to Al Qaida, which basically gave emphasis to terrorism. Yes, but they've from the beginning earmarked Sheikh Shariif as a 'moderate' figure in the ICU, one who perhaps in the future can be used to stabilise public support for the TFG, if the ICU is destroyed. America just doesn’t have any evidence or falsifiable evidences to indict Sheikh Sheriff of terrorist acts. They haven't got any substantial evidence on anybody in the ICU, including Dahir Aweys (yet they still labelled him a 'terrorist'), so 'lack of evidence' is not why they've not proclaimed Sheikh Shariif as a 'terrorist'. They were planning ahead, by refraining from directly accusing of being involved in terrorism,they have ensured they wouldn't contradict themselves in the future.

Mystic, the US has been very diplomatic in not directly naming Sheikh Shariif as a 'terrorist' or associating terrorism with him. Now they see the incorporation of the Sheikh into the TFG as a possible move to reduce public discontent with the TFG. And to perhaps to increase the legitimacy of the TFG in the eyes of the people, most of whom were behind the ICU. The Sheikh has suggested before that he'll 'point the middle finger' at any such deal.

Tha Americans realise what the TFG don't; namely that public sentiment continues to lie with the remnants of the ICU, especially Sheikh Shariif. Reconciliation with the Sheikh is the swiftest road to alleviate some of the public mistrust in the TFG, its ethics, and its potential.

ADDIS ABABA, Jan 19 (Reuters) - An African Union (AU) mission to Somalia recommended on Friday that it send peacekeepers for six months before handing over to the United Nations to tame a nation in chaos for 16 years. Diplomats see international peacekeepers as the only way to stabilise Somalia once Ethiopian troops -- who helped the interim government oust rival Islamists over the New Year and are now propping up the administration -- return home. But with Uganda the only country to pledge troops publicly, funding uncertain and African politicians clearly wary of a messy engagement in a nation in anarchy since 1991, many think it will be a long and difficult task to muster such a force. An AU commission that visited Mogadishu in recent days recommended a 7,650-soldier force -- or nine infantry battalions of 850 each -- be deployed to Somalia "as soon as possible". "The mission should be deployed for a period of six months ... with a clear understanding that the mission will evolve to a United Nations mission," the commission report said. Such a U.N. mission "will support the long term stabilisation and post-conflict reconstruction of Somalia", added the report, issued at AU headquarters in Ethiopia. A police training team, supported by maritime, coastal, air and civilian "components" should also be deployed with the initial AU force, it said. Three battalions should enter initially, with others to follow quickly given "the risk of spoilers bent on undermining operations". Fresh from a trip to Mogadishu, the U.N. envoy to Somalia joined AU officials in Ethiopia. "I see a small window opening for peace and reconciliation," Francois Lonseny Fall said. In Mogadishu on Thursday, Fall met President Abdullahi Yusuf, who was enabled by the fall of the Islamists to come to the capital for the first time since his 2004 appointment. "The city is under the control of the government. Warlords have continued to disarm," Fall said, adding that the United Nations would aid AU peacekeeping efforts. European Union foreign ministers are set to offer 15 million euros to AU peacekeepers but will also, at a meeting on Monday, voice concern over this week's ouster of Somalia's parliamentary speaker who was deemed pro-Islamist, diplomats said. "The EU will say it remains concerned by the current state of the reconciliation process," an EU official said. "It is of the utmost importance to ensure that all key stakeholders -- including clan elders, Islamic leaders, representatives of the business community, civil society and women -- are engaged," a draft text agreed by EU envoys says. MULTIPLE THREATS The region's main military power, Ethiopia, wants to withdraw its troops quickly from Somalia after a two-week offensive alongside government troops to rout the Islamists, who had controlled the south for six months. Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi told the BBC on Friday that his forces were to start leaving "in the next few days". "We want to withdraw at the earliest possible opportunity but we want to do it in a responsible manner," he added. Leaders of the Somali government, which was formed in Kenya in 2004 and whose mandate runs out in 2009, have said they want African peacekeepers in by the end of the month. Without them, the government will struggle to control the multiple threats of remnant Islamists vowing guerrilla attacks, warlords rebuilding power-bases, and clans vying for influence. With other African nations giving mixed signals, Uganda at least took a step forward on Friday when its ruling party approved a plan to send some 1,000 troops there. Ethiopia's arch-foe Eritrea said Addis Ababa was stuck in a "quagmire" in Somalia. "The Islamic Courts have not been defeated," President Isaias Afwerki told Al Jazeera television. In Kenya, hundreds of Muslims carrying anti-Bush and anti-Ethiopia placards rallied to accuse authorities of unfair arrests and harassment due to the crisis in neighbour Somalia. "Every Kenyan Muslim is an Islamist. We are not apologetic about it," said Abdullahi Abdi, the chairman of National Muslim Leaders Forum. "We are being pushed to the wall...under siege." Fugitive Islamists have fled to remote corners of south Somalia, where they have faced U.S. and Ethiopian air strikes on one side and a Kenyan military cordon on the other. The U.S. ambassador to Kenya and Somalia, Michael Ranneberger, dismissed as "utterly bogus" an Islamist Web site report that 10 American soldiers had been captured there. (Additional reporting by David Mageria and Jeremy Clarke in Nairobi, Jack Kimball in Asmara, Ingrid Melander in Brussels) source

Allah did not make celibacy an option for us But he hasn't forbidden it, lets be clear. You don't have to get married.

Here we go again.. To be honest, i find the fact some of you think of my belief as 'noble' and 'impressive' irrelevant. The youths which have gone astray are missing a key element...an identity. Something to look up to, a country, an origin to be proud of and to drive you to excel and work hard. We should be nurturing a sense of Somalinimo, of our identity. There's no point complimenting me for my 'idea of helping people in somalia', because it isn't what i'm advocating for. I wrote this thread, because i thought of SOL as THE place where educated, young Somali's communicate with each other from around the world. Not to show off my dreams, but to realistically debate about what each and every one of us can do for our country tommorrow. What are we studying? How will it help in the rebuilding of our country? have you thought about whether you are going to return?

That says it all.

Nothing to show for this on major news networks. Nothing on Reuters, nothing on BBC News..

The TFG was tired of hearing of its own incompetance.

Some good points, actually. But i'm increasingly becoming of the opinion, that this TFG is more worthless than we give it credit for. It has not implemented any proper strategy to disarm the clans and the warlords. Yes, the warlords have agreed to disarm a number of days ago.....but we have yet to see them do so. All we've seen is sporadic street fighting, and random house checks for firearms. On top of that they've now taken measures to repress press freedom, a sign of their acknowledgement of their continued incompetance. The TFG has yet to produce something decisive, something to win hearts with. the UN and AU will as ever take their time, for they see (the AU anyway) futility in any mission to Somalia.

the magnificent successes of the U.S. preemptive invasion of Iraq and Israel's recent foray into Lebanon. Both military catastrophes. The US has seen its military capacity dwindle whilst her troops face insurgencies day in day out. Israel all but lost to Hamas..

Who is Hizb ut-Tahrir ? About Hizb ut-Tahrir Hizb ut-Tahrir is a global Islamic political party that was established in 1953 under the leadership of its founder - the scholar, political thinker and judge in the Court of Appeals in al-Quds (Jerusalem), Taqiuddin an-Nabhani. Hizb ut-Tahrir global leadership is currently headed by Ata’ abu Rishta. In the Muslim world, Hizb ut-Tahrir works at all levels of society to bring the Muslims back to living an Islamic way of life under the shade of the Khilafah (Caliphate) State following an exclusively political method. Hizb ut-Tahrir adopts the methodology employed by the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) when he established the first Islamic State in Madinah. The Prophet Muhammad limited his struggle for the establishment of the Islamic State to intellectual and political work. He established this Islamic state without resorting to violence. He worked to mobilise public opinion in favour of Islam and endeavoured to sway the political and intellectual elites of the time. Despite the persecution and boycott of the Prophet Muhammad and the early Muslims, they never resorted to violence. The party is therefore proactive in disseminating the Islamic intellectual and political thoughts widely in Muslim societies so as to challenge the existing status quo that exists there. The party presents Islam as a comprehensive way of life that is capable of managing the affairs of state and society. The party also expresses its views on political events and analyses them from an Islamic perspective. The party disseminates its thoughts through discussion with the masses, study circles, lectures, seminars, leaflet distribution, publishing books and magazines and via the Internet. We encourage people to attend our demonstrations, marches and vigils. In the West, Hizb ut-Tahrir works to cultivate a Muslim community that lives by Islam in thought and deed, adhering to the rules of Islam and preserving a strong Islamic identity. The party does not work in the West to change the system of government, but works within the boundaries of the system. The party also works to project a positive image of Islam to Western society and engages in dialogue with Western thinkers, policymakers and academics. Western governments, under the banner of the War on Terror, are currently working to present Islam as an ‘evil ideology’. Indeed at the heart of this campaign is to malign the Islamic ideology as an alternative to Western liberal capitalism. Because of this propaganda aspect to the War on Terror, Hizb ut-Tahrir works to develop opinion about Islam in the Western countries, as a belief, ideology and alternative for the Muslim world. source Sheikh, their description of themselves, contradicts all of your allegations.

The question is, why don't you like men? They are unattractive to you.....what makes them so?

I know the organisation...Xisb ut-Taxriir...a muslim body which believes and advocates in a united Muslim Super-nation, a Khaliifat.