Ahlu Sunna Waljameeca oo sheegtay in ay isu soo dhiibeen gaadiid kuwa dagaalka oo ka soo goostay Ururka Xisbul Islaam Arbaaco, October 07, 2009(HOL): Af-hayeen u hadlay Culimada Ahlu Sunna Waljameeca oo lagu magacaabo Shiikh C/risaaq Al-Ashcaari ayaa sheegay in maalin ka hor isku soo dhiibeen gaadiid kuwa dagaalka ah oo ka soo goostay Ururka Xisbul Islaam ee gacata ku haya Magaalada Beledweyne ee xarunta u ah Goballka Hiiraan. Shiikh C/risaaq Yuusuf Al-Ashcari waxaa uu intaas ku daray in Culimada Ahlu Sunna siweyn u soo dhaweeyeen gaadiidka iyo Ciidamadii la socday kuwaasi oo sida uu hadalka u dhigay ka dhiidhiyay hab dhaqanka Ururkii ay horay uga tirsanaayeen, waxaana uu ugu baaqay in sidaas oo kale ay yeelaan dhaliyarada wali ku harsan kooxaha ay iska soo horjeedeen. Labadii cisho ee la soo dhaafay ayaa magaalada Beledweyne ee xarunta u ah Goballka Hiiraan waxaa si weyn looga hadal hayay in gaadiid kuwa dagaalka ah oo u galay Culimada Ahlu Sunna Waljameeca ay ka tirsanaayeen Ilaalada Xog-haya difaaca Ururka Xisbul Islaam Muuse Cabdi Carraale oo ku sugan Magaalada Beledweyne. Dhinaca kale warar hoose oo aan helnay ayaa sheegaya in uu hakad ku yimid qorshe uu waday Ururka Xisbul Islaam kaas oo la doonayay in Maamul loogu sameeyo Goballka Hiiraan gaar ahaan Magaalada Beledweyne kaddib markii uu shaki soo kala dhaxgalay Ururka Xisbul Islaam iyo Xarakada Shabaabul Mujaahidiin ee iyagu gacanta ku haya qeybo ka mid ah Goballka. C/raxmaan Diini, Hiiraan Online diini@hiiraan.com

Mogadishu Wednesday 7 October 2009 SMC Sheekh C/risaaq Maxamed Cali (Ashcari) Afhayeenka Ahlusunna Waljamaaca ee Gobollada Dhexe ayaa sheegay in urarkooda ay kusoo biireen ciidamo iyo Gawaari Tikniko ah oo kasoo goostay Xisbul Islaam. "Ciidamo ka soo goostay Xisbul Islaam ayaa nagu soo biiray, waxaana ugu baaqaynaa Maleeshiyaadka ee kooxaha ka soo horjeeda inay ku soo biraan Ahlu Sunna " ayuu yiri Afhayeenka Alu Sunna oo sheegay inay yihiin Mashaaikhdooda iyo macalimiintooda dhalinyarada ka soo horjeeda. Afhayeenku ma sheegin tirada ciidamada iyo Tiknikada ee iyaga ku soo biiray, kana soo goostay, balse waxa uu ku gaabsaday inay saxaafadda tusi doonaan oo ay markaasi ka hadli doonaan arrintaasi. Mas'uulkan wuxuu sheegay in dagaallada u dhexeeya Xarrakatul Shabaab iyo Xisbul Islaam ay caddeyn ugu filan yihiin ciidamada ka tirsan labadaas dhinac, ayna ka doortaan in dalka Somalia lagu soo dabaalo nabad iyo kala dambeyn. Dhanka kale Afhayeenka Ahlu Sunna waxa uu sheegay in ciidamo walba oo ka soo goosta dhinacyada ay dagaalka kula jiraan inay soo dhaweynayaan, wuxuuna sheegay inaysan wax shuruud ah ku xirayn ciidamadaas soo baxsada. Somaliweyn Media Center “SMC”

Monday, Oct 05, 2009 President Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed MinnPost photo by Sharon SchmicklePresident Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed Minnesota's 70,000 Somalis serve as a bridge between the United States and their shattered East African homeland, Somalia's President Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed told a rapt and boisterous audience that packed Northrop Auditorium Sunday night to hear him speak. And their support is crucial right now, he said, as the new Somali government seeks international backing for its long-shot bid to repair the wreckage left from two decades of civil war and anarchy. Chanting "Yes we can," the Minnesota Somalis responded with a flare of rare optimism in the face of a situation that had been so hopelessly violent it tore their families apart and scattered them across the world. Ahmed offered condolences to the families of some 20 young Minnesota Somalis who have gone to Africa and reportedly ended up fighting alongside Al-Shabaab, the militant youth insurgency linked to terrorist organizations. At least five of the men have died. The Somali president denounced recruiters who have lured the men from Minnesota, seeming to speak directly to any who might have been listening among 2,500 people in the audience. "I am asking them to stop what they are doing," he said, according to a translation of the speech he gave in Somali. He said the recruitment is "wrong . . . against our faith . . . against our culture . . . against humanity." He said the Somali government is prepared to help the young men's parents in any way it can. "We ask god to guide these young people, salvage our nation and give patience to the parents," he said. Only so much he can do Enthusiastic supporters waved blue and white Somali flags and repeatedly interrupted Ahmed's speech with patriotic songs, applause and standing ovations. Saadia Ahmed of Bloomington was one of many who wore images of the Somali flag for the president's speech. MinnPost photo by Sharon Schmickle Saadia Ahmed Saadia Ahmed of Bloomington was one of many in the audience who also wore the Somali colors. An image of the single-starred blue flag was stitched onto her white scarf. Ahmed Ali of Edina sported a blue t-shirt identifying him as a volunteer helping to support the president's visit. Ali took a tough-minded view, though, of the odds this new president can overcome the terrible obstacles he faces. "The problem is that this is not up to him," Ali said. "There is only so much he can do, and it is up to the Somalis themselves and how much they want peace. The have-nots want him to succeed . . . but many of those in power do not." Like almost every other Somali here in Minnesota, Ali has relatives in Africa. Political ties connect the state and the far-away nation too. Minnesota has been home to two former prime ministers of Somalia, several former cabinet members and many doctors, lawyers, religious leaders and professors. Ahmed Ali MinnPost photo by Sharon SchmickleAhmed Ali While this is the first Minnesota visit by a seated Somali head of state, leaders in the country have connected often with groups in Minnesota. That includes Ahmed who has sought advice and support from Minnesota over the years. Now Ahmed will need all the support he can muster to make any headway toward holding his seat and stabilizing his lawless nation which often is called the world's most failed state. A former school teacher, Ahmed began standing up to warlords who had fought for control of Mogadishu for more than a decade, the BBC said in a profile. In 2003, a gang terrorizing Mogadishu abducted one of Ahmed's 12-year-old pupils and demanded ransom. Ahmed pushed to establish an Islamic court which gathered powerful community support and secured the release of the pupil and other abductees. That was a turning point, not only for Ahmed but for his local community too. They launched a campaign to combat the crime that was rampant in the city's poor neighborhoods. Eventually, Ahmed's local court joined four others to form the Union of Islamic Courts (UIC). The movement had its radical and militant elements, but Ahmed "was always seen as the moderate face" of the Union, the BBC said. With Ahmed as chairman, the UIC took control of large parts of south and central Somalia in early 2006 and enforced more order than Somalia had seen in years. A week after Mogadishu came under UIC command that June, Ahmed organized a conference call with Somalis who had gathered in an office on Nicollet Avenue in Minneapolis. Minnesota Somalis present at the meeting told me he asked for their support and advice. One piece of advice Ahmed got from Minnesota was that he urgently needed to convince the outside world that the UIC was neither radical nor connected with terrorists. Tipping point The Bush administration was having none of that claim. A different UIC leader was on the U.S. terrorist watch list as a suspected collaborator with al-Qaida. The U.S. State Department said at the time that the UIC was being hijacked by Al-Shabaab, the militant youth group working in league with al-Qaida. To the alarm and disgust of many Minnesota Somalis, U.S. Special Forces helped Ethiopian troops march into Mogadishu and crush the UIC. That was the tipping point for many of the young Minnesotans who went to their homeland to fight. Meanwhile, Ahmed fled the country in late 2006. In exile, he led a faction called the Alliance for the Re-liberation of Somalia. After Ethiopian troops withdrew, a UN-backed peace process made it possible for him to return to Somalia. Mohamed Hussein of Burnsville was one of many volunteers for the Somali president's visit. MinnPost photo by Sharon SchmickleMohamed Hussein of Burnsville was one of many volunteers for the Somali president's visit. The Somali parliament elected him president this year. In reality, he controls only a few districts of Mogadishu and some central parts of the country. In his speech, Ahmed repeatedly condemned the young insurgents who emerged from the hard-line factions of the Islamic Courts movement. They are "using the name of Islam," he said, but their real intent "is to surrender the country of Somalia to foreigners." Somalia's tradition is to look to elders as leaders, but the young men are "jumping ahead of that tradition and waging wars." Ahmed also made it clear that he welcomes help from the United States regardless of lingering hostility in Somalia over the Bush administration's backing of Ethiopian boots on Somali soil. In August, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton pledged U.S. support for Somalia's besieged government and praised Ahmed for his administration's fight against Al-Shabaab. On Sunday, Sen. Al Franken, D-Minn., took the Northrop stage along with Ahmed and other officials from both countries. He said that the United States has "important strategic interests" in a stable Somalia and that the Bush administration made a mistake by defining those interests too narrowly. Now President Obama wants to look at Somalia in the political and economic context of the entire Horn of Africa, Franken said, and Clinton's pledge of support was a first step toward a new approach in the region. Other Minnesota officials who took the stage on Sunday to formally welcome Ahmed to Minnesota were Minnesota House Speaker Margaret Anderson Kelliher, state Auditor Rebecca Otto and St. Paul Mayor Chris Coleman. Sharon Schmickle writes about national and foreign affairs and science. She can be reached at sschmickle [at] minnpost [dot] com.

^^^ LOL Indeed you share the sea.

What are you on about Khayr, Is the Sharif now the Dajjal?! I see we have our very own lunatic fringe on SOL.

It seems really odd how the Salah government seems to be getting it from all sides nowadays? Houthis in the north, separatists in the south and Khat for them all. In many ways a civil war in yemen if not quickly put out by neighboring countries such as Saudia and Oman, would make the Somali imbroglio seem positively a picnic. It is unbelievable the depth of hatred sections of Yemenis have for the government. Somalis and Indians huh, no wonder southern Yemenis have the prettier women

Sharif Sakin raising a fist.... perhaps to signify how much he wants for the sharif kit and caboodle, in the manner of the livestock middle man he was and always will be. Other than that very iconic indeed.

06 Oct 2009 14:38:23 GMT Source: Reuters * Two rebel groups fought for Kismayu * Clashes continue around southern port By Ibrahim Mohamed MOGADISHU, Oct 6 (Reuters) - The leader of Somalia's Hizbul Islam rebels, Sheikh Hassan Dahir Aweys, called on rival al Shabaab insurgents on Tuesday to agree a ceasefire and end days of sporadic clashes around the southern port of Kismayu. Fighters from al Shabaab, which Washington says is al Qaeda's proxy in the failed Horn of Africa state, drove Hizbul Islam gunmen out of Kismayu last week and the two groups have continued to battle each other in surrounding districts. Aweys told reporters in the capital Mogadishu the fighting between the rebels was only helping their mutual foes -- Somalia's U.N.-backed government and African Union peacekeepers. I am telling al Shabaab to stop fighting us and accept a ceasefire," the elderly cleric told a news conference. "I am asking them to stop the fighting, which is only useful to the enemy. It is immoral. Muslim blood is being shed." Apparently the same did not apply when he was begged by the Somali President! then it was a little laugh and the observation that people must put up with death a little longer. Hope he has the patience to put up with his. Until last week's battle for Kismayu, the country's two main insurgent groups had controlled the strategic port and much of southern and central Somalia in an uneasy alliance. Western donors have long hoped hardliners in al Shabaab could be isolated by a deal between more moderate Hizbul leaders and President Sheikh Sharif Ahmed's government. Ahmed has had little luck luring Aweys to his side, but a worsening rift between the insurgents could give his fragile government some much needed breathing space. Western security experts say Somalia has become a safe haven for militants, including foreign jihadists, who are using it to plot attacks across the region and beyond. Fighting in Somalia has killed nearly 19,000 civilians since the start of 2007 and driven 1.5 million from their homes. Al Shabaab has blamed the fighting in Kismayu on a local Hizbul commander in the area, and on Tuesday Aweys appealed to the commander to stop the bloodshed. "Sheikh Ahmed Madobe, who is leading the fighting, is one of our mujahideen of Hizbul Islam. I am calling for that fighting to stop," Aweys said. "I am asking our brothers (in al Shabaab) for talks. These clashes are spoiling our principles."

Curses from the old witch in the corner.

Erigavo and sanaag has huge economic potential, but right now it sort of a dead end cul de sac.

For I am sure of it that melodious sing-along of the la-la variety, in which you’ve penned for our inspection, sure as hell beats the idea of knowing one's hero (in the form of Col. Yey) was so singularly disposed of like so much of a “used” (ehm! ), by his Political retainers, who have hired him, originally, so that he can do their biddings in Somalia, Ahem

ADADO, Somalia Saturday, October 03, 2009 Michael Kamber for The New York Times "It was hard for my wife and kids. But I'm doing something big here, and they know that." MOHAMED ADEN The New York Times Adado is one of the safest areas of war-torn Somalia. ABOVE the shimmering horizon, in the middle of a deserted highway, stands an oversize figure wearing a golf cap, huge sunglasses, baggy jeans, and an iPhone on his hip, not your typical outfit in war-torn Somalia. But then again, Mohamed Aden, the man waiting in the road, is not your typical Somali. The instant his guests arrive, he spreads his arms wide, ready for a bear hug. “Welcome to Adado,” he says, beaming. “Now, let’s bounce.” Mr. Aden, 37, is part militia commander, part schoolteacher, part lawmaker, part engineer, part environmentalist, part king — a mind-boggling combination of roles for anyone to play, let alone for a guy who dresses (and talks) like a rapper and recently moved from Minnesota to Somalia in an effort to build a local government. Think of him as the accidental warlord. And a shard of hope. In less than a year, Mr. Aden, who was born in Somalia and emigrated to the United States at age 22, has essentially built a state within a state. With money channeled from fellow clansmen living in the United States and Europe, he has transformed Adado and its surroundings in central Somalia, which used to be haunted by bandits and warring Islamic factions, into an enclave of peace, with a functioning police force, scores of new businesses, new schools and new rules. Somalia is one of the most violent countries on the planet, and at times Mr. Aden has had to speak with the business end of a machine gun. His patch — which encompasses around 5,000 square miles and a few hundred thousand people, most of them desperately poor nomads and members of his own Saleban clan — is now one of the safest parts of this broken nation. Even outsiders are noticing. “When I landed here, I was taken aback, in a good way,” said Denise Brown, a United Nations World Food Program official who visited Adado in March. “I didn’t see what I usually see in Somalia: destitution, chaos, needy people.” Mr. Aden does not get much help from the United Nations or the internationally supported transitional government of Somalia, which is led by moderate Islamists and preoccupied with beating back an intense insurgency in the capital, Mogadishu. Most of what Mr. Aden has accomplished he has accomplished on his own, in distinctly Somalian fashion. His police officers carry rocket-propelled grenades. Parked in front of the police station are two enormous tanks. “My Cadillacs,” Mr. Aden calls them. But however playful or flamboyant he may come across, Mr. Aden seems to have hit upon a deeper truth. People want government, he says, even in Somalia. “They’re begging for it,” he said. His experiment of building a small local government from the bottom up, relying on that one feature of Somalian society that has bedeviled just about all national governance efforts to date — the clan — may have wider implications for the rest of the country, which seems to export trouble continuously, most recently in the form of pirates. Many pirates are actually from Mr. Aden’s area, and one pirate whose nom de guerre is Son of a Liar is building a huge house in Adado — right behind the police station. “I’d take these guys on, but I can’t right now because I don’t have the resources,” Mr. Aden said. “Besides, you can’t just wipe out a whole line of work for thousands of young men. If you take something away, you must replace it with something else. Otherwise, more problems.” WHAT drove him to give up a comfy life with his wife, Shamso, and their five boys in Burnsville, Minn., a Minneapolis suburb? How was he able to make the transition from running a small health care business to being “president,” which is what his constituents in Adado call him? “When I first arrived, I was afraid,” he recalled. “I didn’t know how the people would react to me, if they would trust me. That first year I was focusing on muscle. Without muscle, you can’t do anything.” Of course, there’s much about America he misses. “SportsCenter, Subway, AC, even winter,” he says. But in a way he didn’t have a choice. He came to Adado last year for what he thought would be a few weeks, to help out with a killer drought. He organized water trucking and emergency food deliveries and channeled tens of thousands of dollars from middle class Somalis in the United States to nomads dying of hunger and thirst. Afterward, Adado’s elders, impressed by how fast he could work, turned to Mr. Aden and asked: want to be our leader? “We needed a man of peace and he is from a peaceful place, Minnesota,” said one elder, Mohamed Ali Farah. It did not hurt that Mr. Aden had a pipeline to overseas cash and a college degree from Minnesota State in management information systems. With the elders firmly behind him, he was able to form a well-armed police force of several hundred fellow clansmen who are fiercely protective of him — essentially his own private army, which has made it difficult for the extremist Islamists wreaking havoc in other parts of Somalia to establish a beachhead here. People who have challenged his authority have paid the price. Last summer, his police officers shot to death four men who violently refused to vacate a piece of property that Mr. Aden’s administration ruled belonged to someone else. “I knew there were outliers, people with their own rules,” he said. “I knew I had to challenge them, sooner or later.” Nowadays, from Adado’s dusty town square, he hands down new laws, like a recent one saying that anyone who cuts down a live tree has to pay a fine of 100 camels. The orderly refuge he has carved out has become a magnet for displaced families fleeing the relentless bloodletting in Mogadishu, and at noon each day, the metal roofs of thousands of new homes sparkle like mirrors scattered across the desert. Mr. Aden grew up in Mogadishu, the son of a military mechanic, the firstborn of 10. He fled Somalia with an uncle in 1992, a year after the central government collapsed and his friends split into rival militias. “I didn’t see myself in this war,” he said. But the war saw him. He was shot in the ankle by a stray bullet. Soon he packed up for Kenya and then on to Miami, where he lived in a homeless shelter. He eventually took a Greyhound bus to Minneapolis, the promised land for Somali immigrants and home to the largest Somali community in the United States. There he put himself through college parking cars and working in a factory, always keeping abreast of politics back home, hoping to jump in one day. Yet when finally presented with the opportunity, he turned down the Adado elders twice before relenting. “It was hard for my wife and kids,” he said. “But I’m doing something big here, and they know that.” HE spends his days in a large house in the center of town, where he has rigged up a small command center with a laptop, his iPhone and an Internet connection. As chairman of Himan and Heeb Administration, the province where Adado is located, he often meets with elders on his living room carpet, and he has had to straddle a delicate religious line, respecting the conservative Muslim culture here without coming across as phony. This spring, central Somalia was hit again by a devastating drought, and the elders asked him to lead a rain prayer. “I ain’t no imam,” he grumbled at first, though he eventually agreed to do it. Mr. Aden seems to be a naturally upbeat person, but the one thing that drags him down is the drought. During a drive across the skinned landscape of his area a few months ago, he came upon a young man lying under a lean-to of sticks and blankets. The man was in bad shape, very thin, sweaty and empty-eyed. People said he had typhoid. And tuberculosis. And malaria. Mr. Aden looked down at him and said he would pray. “There’s really nothing else I can do,” he said. “There’s no 911 out here.” Source: NY Times, Oct 03, 2009

A&T as I said it is a sensitive topic, and everyone has to live of a myth of some sort I suppose. This not the time or place to disscuss such Issues. Just want to make it clear that the generalizations you are using are dangerous. And any way how can my voice of sweet reasonablness be heard with guys like abokor on the forum?

Suing Amir and the "banning" the VOA, brave new world looks like old Stalinist mentality.

Oh please what performance, I get satire, I get irony. This postings on the other hand come under the heading of buffoonery.

I thought the VOA was the new denizen of impartial Somali reporting at least to some.... What have they done to fall of this perch assigned to them by some.....

^^^ Waayahay Che it is the mark of an educated mind to discern patterns in chaos, but a shortcoming of a hopefull one to discern pattern and planning where there is none. Hope you are not let down by these latter day saints.

Che brother, some actually thought that Xisbul Islam could kick out AS from kismayoo [that might still happen by the way], but others just wanted the AS to cover themselves up in the shrouds of fake islam, by calling others murtad, kaffirs e.t.c Over what was an economic and personality based clash. By doing that a little bit more of their legitimacy has been lost.

In the end gloating over victory in Kismayoo is a fools errand, indeed 20 years of sometimes monthly changes of power should mean that this particular story has a long long way to run.

I can see this is a touchy subject with you, so I will tread carefully and ask if as you put rer-xisbul islam did not during those 5 decades, produce their fair share of traitors, collaborationists, and spys? Did they not fail and flounder when they did have actual control? Being poisoned by clannism as any other array of somalis is wont to? There are those that fight ethiopia and it intreasts against the somali PEOPLE and to boil it down to rer-xisbul, just reflects the short sighted politics and discourse that rer-xisbul is so famous for.

Such effective security forces you guys have. Keep it up. Random sweets cannot be tolerated

The things you write about A&T are the shame of almost all Somali politico's, and a collective failing of the Somali people. Whether it is in regaling us with clan based bantustans or warlord politics, Somalis every where to some degree or other buy in whole heartedly into the version of Somalia the Ethiopians produce. Which is ultimately a greater crime and loss than listening to ethio music. p.s keep up the exposes.

01 Oct 2009 10:13:03 GMT Source: Reuters By Daniel Wallis NAIROBI, Oct 1 (Reuters) - Clashes between rival Islamist rebels in southern Somalia's Kismayu port have raised fears that the fighting could spread to other parts of the country. [iD:nL1430682] Western donors have long hoped that al Shabaab hardliners with links to al Qaeda could be isolated by a deal between more moderate Hizbul Islam leaders and the fragile U.N.-backed government, bringing some stability after years of anarchy. While there is no realistic chance of peace in the short term, here are some possible scenarios: HIZBUL DEFEAT AL SHABAAB President Sheikh Sharif Ahmed has been trying to encourage Hizbul leaders, including his former comrade Sheikh Hassan Dahir Aweys, to join his side and isolate their one-time allies in al Shabaab, which Washington accuses of being al Qaeda's proxy in Somalia. But Ahmed has had little success so far. Hizbul had said it would fight al Shabaab "everywhere" in the country if battles began in Kismayu. Somalia observers are watching to see whether clashes between the two groups break out in the capital Mogadishu, or central and southern districts where they have maintained an uneasy alliance until now. A victory for Hizbul might make Aweys more conciliatory -- but he would be hungry for a powerful position. He and Ahmed ran the Islamic Courts Union that ruled Mogadishu and most of southern Somalia for six months in 2006. Aweys has a lot of influence over many of the rebels, but his willingness to work with members of Ahmed's cabinet is unclear. Aweys also backed suicide attacks on African Union peacekeepers last month, angering some in the international community who might have been willing to accommodate him in the interests of a stable Somalia. AL SHABAAB TRIUMPH? An al Shabaab win that cemented its control of the south, including strategic Kismayu, would worry the government and Western donors, which accuse the group of welcoming foreign jihadists -- including al Qaeda suspects wanted over the U.S. embassy bombings in Nairobi and Dar es Salaam in 1998. In the new areas that fell under its control, it would be expected to impose its own strict version of Sharia law, which has entailed beheadings, stonings and amputations. U.S. military forces might also launch more attacks to kill its leaders. Al Shabaab hit the main AU headquarters in Mogadishu with twin suicide car bombs on Sept. 17, killing 17 soldiers including the force's deputy commander. Al Shabaab said the attack, which used stolen U.N. cars rigged with explosives, was in revenge for the killing that week of a most wanted Kenyan al Qaeda suspect by U.S. commandos in rebel-held southern Somalia. If al Shabaab were to defeat Hizbul forces, it would do little in the short term to affect the government's tenuous hold on power as 5,000 African Union troops are still defending key positions in Mogadishu. But it would boost the insurgents' morale by leaving them as the sole armed opposition to the administration. It may also embolden the rebels to carry out threats to strike in relatively peaceful regions, such as Somaliland. A GOVERNMENT OFFENSIVE? Ahmed's administration may be weak and riven by disputes between ministers, but it could take advantage of the clashes between the rebels now and strike at them in Mogadishu. With the insurgents preoccupied with their battles centred on Kismayu, Somali government forces supported by the AU mission could use the opportunity to deal damaging blows to their bases in the capital. This might disrupt the rebels long enough to reclaim some strategic real estate in the city, but it would no doubt add to the hundreds of thousands of civilians who have fled the fighting. While AU troops on the ground have been keen to go on the attack, wrangling over how much they can actually do under their current mandate has prevented any major offensives so far. STALEMATE? Probably the most likely outcome. Al Shabaab and Hizbul Islam could fight each other to a standstill in Kismayu, with both sides retreating for long enough to call up reinforcements, and neither group making gains they can hold. Even if the battles spread to other central and southern towns, or the capital, both sets of insurgents are heavily armed and can call up fresh fighters from neighbouring areas. This would just add to Somalia's death toll of 19,000 killed since the start of 2007, and force more families to join the 1.5 million people already driven from their homes by the conflict. And it would leave Western nations still scratching their heads about how to lift Somalia out of its violent quagmire. (Editing by David Clarke)

Congratulations, you are now the same as every other somali.

Waar Feysaal is crazy, just plain fooxleey run of the mill bat-shidh insane. And Since this election is merely a clan rundown, from Silanyos clan there is the one and only Saleeban. A determined man, who proved such a threat to silanyo he had to be palmed off with the leadership of the Guurti. Who knows what the future holds Riyaale handing over the seat to the head of the Guurti as a constitutional formality would END kulmiye.