JB, good that u are from there! How is the condition of that highway that snakes over the Shiekh mountains? I would love to see one picture of that highway if you're still around there. Thanks RED!

Anyone from the Sheikh city? I am not from there, but in love with the city. Hope they change the name since Shiekh with no other name attached makes no sense to me. Last time I was travelling that beautiful highway over the Sheikh mountains, it was so breath-taking scene. Can the RED take pictures of that scene if travelling on land? Red, hope u enjoy your 3m vacation. wlc back Turkish girl,xanthus!

Sh. Shariif and his company, the Islamic Courts, have already lost the war against the TFG and Ethiopians. Instead of calling for more war and destruction to kill more mothers and children why not call for political negotiations and create a peaceful opposition party? Keep going in this circle of violence while calling yourselves Somali-jecel! I wonder when you guys will see the light and come into your senses.

May God bless the souls of innocent victims of this bombing.

Dad badan ayaa ka quursaday xaalka maanta Soomaaliya ku sugantahay. Ani hasa yeeshee kama quursan , waligeeyna Soomaalinimo iyo Soomaaliya kama quursanaayo, sidee awoowyaasheen ugu quursan. MMA, undust your Somali dictionary! Do you mean quustay!

Samir iyo iimaan.

And they already said that the next elections won't be fare. Because they think they will lose it too!

With major changes in their leadership and the party could maintain its current supporters plus the new support the party will get from bringing a new candidate who can appeal across the country then Kulmiye will be in a good position to win in the next presidential race. However, that looks too late to happen and Silanyo has already siad that he is unreplaceable. This also applies to UCID. Remember what Boqor Buurmadow said about Kulmiye and UCID parties. They need to change their leaders, Silaanyo and Waraabe respectively, if they need to challenge UDUB party in the presidential elections.

^God is on its side.

I believe Mr. Silaanyo is so desperate to win the Presidency by playing the clan-card. If the people from the South of Burco were tribal-minded, they would have voted for the Sahan party during the last presidential elections. What other plan other than 'vote for me cuz I'm SNM' is Mr. Silanyo has? He does not have much credibility in Burco let alone the rest of Somaliland. When Burco needed him the most during the 1996 civil war, he even not bothered to say anything about the war. He was a respected leader and people would have listened to him. He has no that respect now and that is why he lost to Pres. Riyaale. Plus, Riyaale now enjoys more popularity because he put Somaliland on the map with his leadership. The best of SNM leadership including Dhega wayne and Ina Mirre are now retired from the politics and Mr. Silaanyo should do the same too! President Riyaale has won the last elections not because of his clan but the majority of Somaliland citizens have trusted him. And he is going to do the same again in 2008.

Brother JB, we need the UN for the simple reason that our voice will be heard in such matters as peace and security and health in the globe. We will be able to have a say the UN peace keeping forces that is needed to protect the people in Darfur so those innocent Darfurians will have peace and decide whether to continue to be part of Sudan or vote for their independence like Southern Sudan, since the Sudanese government sees them as second citizens and their plight were ignored by Muslim countries.

Though the following article has been published online by UNPO website and Garowe Online among others few months ago, but the article's author seems to correctly predicted that Somaliland is soon to win its bid to international recognition. I myself believe that Somaliland will beat few candidate countries such as Kosovo to become the first and the newest UN member in 2007. Do you agree with that and what is your predictions? Will either Kosovo or Western Sahara beat Somaliland by first joining the UN? Somaliland: Call for UN Special Envoy 2007-02-05 Below is an article written by Ali Deria and published by Garowe Online; There are 192 member states of the United Nations, and Somaliland may soon join the group to become the 193rd member. However, Somaliland has to overcome few obstacles to become the first country to join the UN since Montenegro has become the 192nd member state in 2006. The first step is to lobby to have a UN special envoy for Somaliland. If the UN could afford to provide four special envoys for the HIV/AIDS and one for the bird flu, then they can afford to have one for Somaliland. Because of the uncertainty of succeeding to have a lasting peace in Somalia, the UN special envoy for Somalia, Francois Fall, will have no time to broker a deal between Somaliland and Somalia. And there is no point for Somaliland to wait for the never-ending discussions of peacemaking in Somalia. Therefore, there is an urgent need for a UN peace envoy in Somaliland. For instance, the former Finnish President Martti Ahtisaari, who is the UN special envoy for Kosovo, has just unveiled a draft plan that could lead Kosovo to independence and thus peace in the region. Soon, Kosovo will join the free world and become an independent state. Likewise, a special envoy for Somaliland could broker a deal between Somaliland and Somalia. And if a deal is not reached within a year, for example, the UN special envoy could forge a proposal and present it to the UN Security Council, which will have the final say. The second step is to solve the issue of Sool and Sanaag. One of the lessons that we’ve learned from the earlier peace reconciliations is the fact that demand for justice alone does not always lead to a lasting peace. It is the political reconciliation, not justice that was responsible for the stability we have today. We’ve succeeded creating a lasting peace in most of the country except the regions of Sool and Sanaag. So, let’s reach out to ***** and make peace with **********. Once we make peace with them, then political reconciliation with *********** and Warsengeli will most likely succeed. In addition, we need to tone down the criticism of the TFG’s president, Abdilahi Yusuf, and his government for the possibility of reaching a truce that paves the way for Somalia and Somaliland to recognize each other as independent states. In fact, Somaliland clans have more in common with ***** sub clan than ******, and the success of Abdilahi Yusuf’s current government will mean that Somaliland will have lesser hindrance for international recognition than ****** lead government. The last challenge is to beat the Western Sahara, Taiwan, Kosovo, and the Vatican City for becoming the 193rd member state of the UN. Impressive list, isn’t it? Well, the independent state of the Vatican City with a population of less than a thousand people is still considering for becoming a full member state of the UN. Since the creation of the Vatican in 1929, it has voted not to become a UN member, and is unlikely to join it very soon. It is also unlikely that either Taiwan or the Western Sahara will join the UN before Somaliland, because Taiwan has to overcome the Great Chinas resistance, and the Western Sahara issue is still stalled in the UN. Kosovo has the most potential to beat Somaliland for becoming the first one to join the group, and Somaliland may have to settle for second best after Kosovo to become the 194th member state of the UN. Source UNPO Website

I was not expecting from Nolanders(except those who are open-minded)to respect the will of the Somalilanders for their recognition of statehood. This is a great moment for all of us, and we knew it will come soon. Whether the first country that recognizes Somaliland is Ethiopia or another African country is not the point. But the main thing is that Somaliland is going to get the recognition that it deserves.

Somaliland closer to recognition by Ethiopia afrol News, 5 June - This weekend, the President of self-declared Somaliland was received with all honours by the Ethiopian Prime Minister. While the authorities downplayed the importance of the summit as "consultations", regional observers see it as yet another step towards a first-ever recognition of Somaliland's independence. According to an official communiqué by the Ethiopian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, "Prime Minister Meles Zenawi held talks with Somaliland president Dahir Rayale Kahin on Saturday." The official statement, for the first time, refers to Somaliland and its leader as any other sovereign state and Head of State. The Addis Ababa Ministry added that the Ethiopian-Somalilander discussions "focused on trade and other issues of interest to the peoples of Ethiopia and Somaliland." After his meeting with Prime Minister Meles, President Kahin told journalists that this latest discussion was only "part of a series of consultations." Somaliland celebrated its 16th anniversary of independence just a few weeks ago. In May 1991, politicians and elders of the former British protectorate Somaliland revoked the 1960 act of unconditional union with the former Italian Somalia and declared the re-establishment of the sovereign republic of Somaliland. While southern Somalia fell into civil war and anarchy, Somaliland since that has built democratic institutions and a functional and peaceful state. But until now, no country has recognised Somaliland. Neither Western nor African nations have wanted to make the first step before the African Union (AU) accepts the existence of Somaliland. But as south Somalia again seems to fail achieving peace and stability, several nations are now making significant steps towards recognising Somaliland. In Africa, Somaliland has already established officially recognised offices in South Africa, Ethiopia and Ghana, functioning as embassies. South Africa and Ghana have been pushing the AU into considering the case of Somaliland's formal recognition and both governments would prefer the establishment of full-fledged diplomatic and trade relations rather sooner than later. With neighbouring regional power Ethiopia, Somaliland has its closest ties and most of its trade. Somaliland's Berbera is the second-most important harbour, after Djibouti, for imports to and exports from landlocked Ethiopia. Ethiopia has gone far in recognising Somaliland in practical terms but not formally. According to Somaliland's Foreign Minister Abdillahi Duale, Ethiopian officials recognise Somalilander passports and currency. Somalilander representatives "are received with all the diplomatic niceties that any minister or head of state gets, with the exception of a flying flag," he told South African media. So far, a formal recognition has been difficult to issue for the Ethiopian government. Ethiopia is also the major ally of the south Somali government, which it assisted in ousting Islamists, and it still has a significant troop contingent in Somalia. Mogadishu strongly opposes Somaliland's independence and claims to represent the entire country. Prime Minister Meles nevertheless by now seems ready to go further in the Somaliland recognition process, a process he has directed through small steps forwards for several years. If the AU does not move forward with its recognition process, analysts foresee that Ethiopia will make the move unilaterally. European nations only wait for this step to formalise ties with Somaliland. The Hargeisa government already has officially recognised diplomatic offices in London and Brussels and Sweden recently announced it would regard Somaliland as a self-governing area in terms of development aid. Foreign Minister Duale on his May roundtrip in Europe was received with all diplomatic honours in Belgium, Denmark and Germany. By staff writer © afrol News

We do not need to convince you anything about Somaliland. Just do your research and then make up your mind by asking your people what they think about it. Since that is the way you guys make up your dependent-minds.

Of course we were backward people. No sane people will rush and give up their freedom to join another country while giving up their membership of commonwealth. You highlighted the word "suspicious," but not many of us were suspicious about this deal and we were wrong.

You scared them when you bring the ****** in to the discussion. Now they need to find a escape! that dashdash means killilka shanaad ee ethiopia.

All your hatred about Dr. Pharm wouldn't change anything about the realities in Somalia. He is an expert of Africas and writes his opinions about the region. Without insulting anyone ask why he is suggesting that Somalia entity is dead. It is you Nolanders who are destroying their own people and country. Some of the Nolanders here on SOL continue to praise their worlord and call anyone against him that he/she do not have somalinimo. Who hates Somalis then,you or Dr.Pharm? Next time, before you throw your two cents, ask yourself what have you done other than destruction for Somalinimo?

Stealth, I am sure that you've more patience than I have while you trying to shed light on the issue of secesion to 'some' of the people from the camp of Nolanders. I said 'some' cuz many of the knowledgeable Nolanders know when to defend a point and when to abandon it. Che and caano, tell me your opinion about the following quote: "You cannot say, that people that reside in Gaashamo are other areas aka reer hebel which relates to the clan in Somaliland can simply say no we no longer want to be part of O-gedenia, but rather part of Somaliland. It cannot happen that way." by Stealth. I think cambaro is right to compare to some extent the way Somalilanders and Jews people organise their communities and advocate issues that help their countries while residing overseas. Somalilanders need to learn more from the Jews people if we want to speed up our political and economical success and to overcome the Arab's hindrance and Africa's indifference. By the way, with their shortcomings, Jews are even mentioned in the Quran as the'chosen' people by Allah. So there is nothing wrong with being a Jew. Like any other community, they have some who are good and some who are bad. But to some who failed their communities will continue to smear and blame others for the reason of their failures. ps. why some have to lie about the civil war and say that Hargeisa and Burco were peaceful during the late 80s. Don't you know what other people will think about you? a lier!

That is exactly how I feel, better stay unrecongized than uniting with Somalia. We just hate wasting another 30 years with them. Even without recognition we are faring better than them now or even during the whole time we were united with them. It is as simple as that.

Riyale will win again for the fact that he is more popular than before and people trust him more than Silaanyo(Kulmiye part) and Waraabe(UCID party). Plus Kulmiye party whose challenge was the biggest during the last Presidential elections is said to be having its worst internal conflict, which the party could not contain yet.

HAPPY INDEPENDENCE DAY to you all Somalilanders. And many thanks to its friends and sympathizers.

As Muslims, why do we have to trust every Sheik's translations on video or even in live when the are differing views on Quran, and we know that some Sheiks are encouraging our naive youngesters to blow up themselves to kill innocent people including Muslims while keeping theirs on safe place? Isn't it the time that every Muslim have to trust his/her own judgement for what's right or wrong based on the way each one understood the Quran?

Rennet, a chemical sourced from calves' stomachs, is used in the production of whey. Since when calves' products were made Haraam? This Muslim religion has been hijacked by none other than Muslims who want to rewrite it. Any thing that is not clearly mentioned in the Quran or Hadith, saxeex, as Haraam is not a Haraam. Feel sorry for vegetarians refusing proteins and swallowing tons of Multivitamins each morning. But they make meat for us cheaper.

So Rooble thinks those who point at the absurdities of his FM hate him and his fellow landers! That’s very childish walle… Isn't that funny? I will tell to where childishness belongs to later. But first, let me tell you something xiin! I do not like most of political debates between the 'Somalilanders' and 'nolanders.' Because it is a never-ending pointless argument. But when people are reasoning with each other and not recycling crap then I like to join in to take part of that kind of debate. It is this kind of crap such as: Somaliland cannot withdraw from the union and refusing that we've even existed as a country before the union that is the childish playground that makes you joyous Mr xiin. Such arguments of yours and company are what sane people call childish. This is the kind of crap of yours repeating what you've heard from and written by other blind nolanders that makes it hard to have a healthy and inteligent debate. I hope as Somalis from different camps and countries that we will learn to think if what we've to say makes any sense before we post. We will always differ in opinions, but lets not try to argue to make nuts a banana.