I have followed this debate interestingly and I happened to have found the best and msot honest quote from all the posts written here. All have contributed positively and this is a debate I will always look back to, but a quote from Guardian n Protector's post really stuck out to me: What is wrong is not for me to claim I belong to a certain clan, but to discriminate against others for belonging to a different one

Smith all this leads people to wondar why, after 4 months, Abdulahi Yusuf's administration has still not relocated to Somalia and especially in Muqdisho?

Anybody who scored less then a 70%, then you are having an identity crisis. Take the test again and this time be honest. 50% iyo ka yar ee ba iidaheen.

LOL one of my saaxiibyaal is always saying " extremely annoying" after every SINGLE thing. Do you know how extrememly annoying that is? :mad: :eek:

Nice! You get a little peace, and the Somalis natural entrepreneurship takes over. Hargeisa should seriously lobby to become the capital or co-capital of the Republic.

halka uu jiritaanka arrintaasina gebi ahaanba beeniyay Xildhibaan Yuusuf Mire Seeraar So I guess it isn't a deal between Morgan and the "JVA" then It's an alleged deal between Morgan and one side of the JVA.

I guess inside Somalia amongst his people he will be safe. Interesting. Smith what do you think of reports saying Sheikh Aweys and others are busy buying weapons to fight Abdulahi Yusuf in Muqdisho?

War dee maxaa isku daalinaysaan? Hadii ee Puntland ku biiraan, ayagee u taal, hadayna ku biirine ayagee u taal.

Politics-Somalia: Cabinet Fails to Pass Muster - Women's Activists Inter Press Service (Johannesburg) January 11, 2005 Posted to the web January 12, 2005 Joyce Mulama Nairobi In what some may describe as adding insult to injury, Somali Prime Minister Ali Mohamed Ghedi has appointed just four women to the country's new 91-member cabinet. This came after only 22 of the 275 seats in parliament were allocated to women. Somalia's constitution states that 12 percent of all decision-making posts in government should be reserved for women, which means that at least 10 women should have been appointed to cabinet, and 33 women to parliament. "In Somalia women are treated as a minority people. They do not get their fair share and this is very bad," Khadija Maxamed Diiriye, a newly-appointed deputy minister, told IPS. "We hope that as days go by, the number of women in the cabinet will improve," she added. Diiriye is one of three female deputy ministers; one woman has been appointed to a ministerial post. The cabinet, announced Jan. 7, marked Ghedi's second attempt to assemble a team of ministers. His first 77-member cabinet was rejected by parliament last month. The decision to expand the cabinet to include 91 members has prompted some to describe it as bloated - a charge government denies. "After 14 years of war and lawlessness in Somalia, this is the first national reconciliation government and therefore the size is useful for the task of uniting the nation," Yusuf Baribari, head of the presidential press service, told journalists in the Kenyan capital - Nairobi. "It is an all-inclusive government because we want a peaceful country," he added. "There are many ministers in number because the president wants to maintain the best political equilibrium within his government." Somalia was left without a central authority for over a decade after 1991, when dictator Mohamed Siad Barre was ousted. Following Barre's departure the country descended into civil war - and was subsequently carved into fiefdoms by faction leaders. Two regions of the country seceded. Talks to bring peace to the Horn of Africa nation began in neighbouring Kenya in 2002 under the auspices of the Inter Governmental Authority on Development, a regional grouping. The negotiations ultimately resulted in the creation of a new legislature for Somalia - which will govern for five years - and the election of a president, Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed, in October 2004. The appointment of a cabinet paves the way for Somalia's new administration to begin operating from the capital, Mogadishu. While security concerns have kept the government in Nairobi until now, President Mwai Kibaki has made it clear that this situation cannot continue indefinitely. His statements were echoed by Regional Cooperation Minister John Koech last week, when he advised the government that it would be unlikely to receive donor support for the reconstruction of Somalia while it continued to operate from exile. Yusuf agrees. "The cabinet must prepare a plan to relocate to Mogadishu. This will be soon, if not soonest," the head of state told his new cabinet. The African Union has pledged to deploy 2,000 peacekeepers to ensure the safe arrival of Somalia's government in Mogadishu - and to provide security for its members once they assume their duties. Top of the agenda for the new administration will be providing assistance to victims of the tsunami disaster caused by an earthquake off the north-west coast of Indonesia on Dec. 26, 2004. According to Baribari, the tidal waves that fanned out across the Indian Ocean as a result of the quake have claimed 298 lives in the Puntland region of Somalia. In all, upwards of 150,000 people were killed by tsunamis in Africa, south and south-east Asia. "About 283 people got injured and more than 100,000 have been affected directly or indirectly, especially in Puntland," Baribari told IPS. The cost of damages caused by the disaster is put at about 24 million dollars. The presidential spokesman said Somalia's government was working with persons in Puntland to assist tsunami victims, and that a disaster management committee had been established in the region to liaise with international aid agencies. "Meanwhile, we are still appealing for food aid, financial aid, shelter, clean water, medical care and any other help that is necessary," he added. The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) already has personnel in place who are supplying Somalis with vaccines, vitamins and other relief aid. A Jan. 10 statement from the agency noted that UNICEF was assisting 12,000 people in a number of villages along the north-eastern coastline of Somalia, many of whom have been left without homes, clean water or sanitation. However, the statement also noted that insecurity in tsunami-affected regions was impeding aid efforts. "According to unconfirmed reports two occupants of a supply lorry sub-contracted by another UN agency were killed some 40 km from Gara'g (a Somali village) yesterday (Jan. 9). This is an indication of the risk involved in working in Somalia even in a humanitarian situation," said UNICEF.

Is it me or is Qudhac learning more about "southern" politics? Just jokin man.

Ali believe me that letter has more then once made its way into this forum. I'll tell you one single reason to dismiss it as a farce. Mohamed Ibrahim Igaal (ilaahay ha u naxariisto) never actively campaigned "Somaliland"'s independence to the world. It was widely known and acknowledged that he hoped a Somali government would be born while he was still the "president" of the secessionist regions. He planned to use Hargeisa as a stepping-stone Muqdisho, but alas he did not live long as time went up.

Sadly I believe they are wasting their time. Bush could care less about Somalia or Africa for that matter.

Nationalist no offense, but you seem like an ill-informed teenager. WOW Abdulahi Yusuf's grip on Bosaaso wowed me :eek: (being sarcastic ) As for the others, maxaaba la isku daalin? It's not like we can actually influence anything that is going on,..or maybe some of us believe we do? :confused:

^LOL Everyone seems happy the Mad Colonel (and his cronies) is gone. Thank God! Don't let Smith or Nationalist here you man, watch your back Bari_Nomad is o.k though

That's not a very accurate map sxb There's alot of inaccuracies I noticed in there. For example: if you go down to Jubooyinka and Gedo, you can automatically tell 1/5 of Saakow District belongs to Baardhere district. Besides 2/3 of Cadaado district and 1/2 of Dhusa-Mareb district are basically extentions of Cabudwaq and are adminisitered by the Ugaas of Cabudwaq. No one is held by an "invisible" line in the sand and as such those folks there are part and parcel of Cabudwaq district. Anyways, I'm wondering: would you be 'for' or 'against' an extention of Puntland into Caabudwaaq and the other districts? Absaloutely, why not? The only reason reer Cabudwaq refused in the first place was because of Abdulahi Yusuf. Now that he is gone (from Puntland ) it was only natural for the topic to be brought up again.

Do Somali-owned newspapers know the difference between journalism and opinion'? And secondly, are they mere mouthpieces of the various political groupings/factions? WT sxb that problem exists in all media outlets around the globe. I have seen few newspapers (English or Somali) that I can truly call "objective", and in those "objective" ones, there were some very partisan articles. There isn't any objectivity in the Somali media of today, because a natural set of rules governing it hasn't been implemented. As time goes, so do things evolve. I believe a transformation is taking place and most Somali news sources have started giving attention to other areas out of their "constituency". We cannot blame the journalists only, because we are part of the problem also. The only news Somali people in general deem "worthy" is ku tiri ku teen. Ku tiri ku teen has no journalistic value, and is largely if not completely opinion. In essence, what I'm trying to say is it us, the Somali people, who are forcing Somali journalism to be primarily based on opinion. The Somali news sources are largely read by their "constituency", i.e. Qabiil, and if their news does not match up to what their constituency wants to hear, then where would they get their audience? It is that which forces Somali journalists to report through their opinion. To feed their audience (largely based on whom?) whatever they want to hear, so long as they are visiting the site and spreading its name.

As a symbolic show of solidarity between Reer Puntland and Reer Galgaduud, this seems like an excellent idea. Realistically, it has many flaws. How can Galgaduud join Puntland when there's no border? [Confused] I'm with Duke (Smith?) on this. Its hard to unite a non-continous piece of land. On the contrary WT, the area of Puntland and Cabudwaq district are contiguous. Puntland claims Galkacyo district (primarily settled by Abdulahi Yusuf's laf, reer Goldogob, and reer Cabudwaq), which is bordered with Cabudwaq district to the south. Cabudwaq city is more north of Hobyo, and closer to Galkacyo city then any other major city. Horn, The 'buffer' you are speaking of does not really make sense to me, as we will still have a very large border with our S. Mudug neighbours. Although it should be noted that it has been fairly peaceful since 1993 peace agreement. I do believe it would be a good decision as this joining together would improve relations. What say you? For or against? Bari, it has great opportunity to be a political buffer zone to reconcile any problems occuring between their relations to the north and their neighbors to the east. I believe I would be for, because hey what can Cabudwaq, Dhabat, and Balanbale lose but gain more political and trade opportunities?

^^^ Walee Juma qosol badanaa As for the rest of the "gang", don't fall for Juma's taunts again

Because Life is a test Nice job Ms Word :cool:

Thanx for the information Orgilaqe, appreciate it very much. As for Nationalist... :eek: :cool:

LOL Bari Look bro, I don't think there's anything inherently wrong with Nationalist , and who knows maybe we do have alot of of things in common...but ONE thing I have noticed about him is the nomad sees the northeast, and ONLY the northeast, through rose-colored glasses It's kool to be proud, but we have to be realists here and see what the whole of Somalia is in the eyes of a third person. For example, there was this one nomad that commented that inhabitants of Muqdisho and Ugandans look alike :confused: Hello we are Somalis, as far as looks go, believe me we are the same, but that person's mentality was something I could not dicepher. As for Nationalist to insult my Cabudwaq that's something I could not take especially since there isnt an ounce of truth in his assumptions. Here is a picture of Cabudwaq, and tell me that in Somali standards it isn't a very developed city? Cabudwaq Why is that exactly? Well I think it is in Puntland's interest to "acquire" because it as a natural bufferzone between the northeast and South Mudug and beyond. The clans of S. Mudug and Galgadud are on peaceful and aiable terms with western/northern Galgaduud and do tell me if Puntland wouldn't want a peaceful border with them :confused: And that's just one of many reasons, sxb, so don't confuse of just talking about non-sensicle qabiil wishy washy.

In response to Mr. Abdi Guled's Article "A glimme of hope on the horizon for Gedo residents" In order to move successfully to the future, we must look back to the past and learn from it. Even though our past introduces depressing stories, we must be prepared to bury the past with its distasteful memories. Closer examination of the past suggests that if we are to stay away from a repetition of the mistakes in the past, we must take a note of it, and we should not be ignorant and victims of the past. I have examined the forces that strengthen and divide societies and the forces that promote social stability, and have concluded that trust has a great impact on the unity of society. Trust is the key; therefore, this lost key must be located. If we do not put together workable strategies for unity and take critical steps to form an all inclusive political association, Gedo people will again be fighting in the midst of themselves. I think social change; social order and progress should work together to eliminate conflict and poverty. I was so overwhelmed to read, observe and analyze the brilliant thoughts which Mr. Abdi Guled has put together. Mr. Guled recently wrote an article titled “Glimmer of hope on the horizon for Gedo residents†the article is well written, clear and indeed very informative. Not many of us think clearly and reasonably. Not many of Gedo intellectuals have attempt to identify Gedo problems, locate solutions, and shy away from asking hard questions. Not many of us have suggested some type of workable solution to the problem under investigation. By no means can Gedo intellectuals, politicians and religious leaders wash their hands clean of responsibility for the meaningless war. My simple advice to these groups is that when they wake up in the morning, they realize that they have been given a second chance, and do not hesitate to do good for the common interest. I appreciated Mr. Guled’s Article to the highest degree. Humans are blessed with an amazing bio-computer brain. This is where intelligent and complicated behaviors are based. Unlike animals, we can think, predict, solve, create and invent things. For several years, I have been writing about Gedo’s past, present and future with reference to its culture, history, social and political issues. The purpose of my work was to give some insight into the origins of Gedo armed conflicts so that we can find viable solutions. By creating academic argument, I have been attempting to explore the right direction for further investigation in the light of reasoning and objectivity. Needless to mention, for far too long, Gedo has been associated with armed conflicts, diseases and poverty. It became too divided and too weak to defend itself from external or internal attacks. However, the resolution of conflicts in Northern Districts of Gedo is an indication that Gedo people are maturing and ready for change. History demonstrates that there are two ways of curing the ills of a society: by removing its causes and by controlling its effects. In order to do so one must recognize the ills, define the problem and come up with possible solutions. In the course of my investigation, I came to the conclusion that Gedo troubles cannot be attributed to a single cause nor do they represent a single underlying tendency. This means that there are multiple problems that require multiple solutions. Probable root causes include poverty, mistrust and lack of a visionary leader. Multiple consequences include power struggle, mistrust of leadership, dishonesty, animosity and greediness. The lack of credible and visionary leadership has led the Gedo Region in the wrong direction. As a result, Gedo people are confused and lacked a clear political direction. Based on my studies, there is compelling evidence that Gedo needs a transformation. I have tried to show that the most prevalent factor of Gedo problem is mistrust and a lack of leadership. The most effective and successful visionary leader is the one who responses to the needs of his people and one who knows how to listen, respect and learn from other points of view, and appreciate their input and expertise. In the course of my studies of the Gedo region, I discovered that the collapse of the Somali National Front (SNF) was the caused by competition for resources that were scarce and for power. Unfortunately, this is the same problem that caused the collapse of the President M. S. Barre’s Government. History makes obvious that without visionary leadership, a society will pass away. The Gedo Region lacks a capable guardian with a clear picture of the future that works for all Gedo people. It is my view that the absence of a commonality of ideas, the absent of modern thinkers and the absent of an intellectual movement can greatly be attributed to the Gedo misfortunes. What is needed is to educate Gedo people so that they can free themselves from the dependency of warlords. Through education and debate we are obliged to make some changes because our people are ready and capable of changing. â€Coming together is a beginning; keeping together is progress; working together is successâ€. However, the beginning is the most important and the most difficult part of the work. Let us begin to change systematically, and let us do it together for the sake of peace, development and growth. Let us play a role for the betterment of our society because where there is no vision, people will perish. If we want to change, we should not look to and blame neighboring countries and other Somali communities for our misfortunes; rather we should look into our problems and accept our responsibility. Honesty is the key to solving the conflicts; therefore, we must be honest with ourselves. A better Gedo will grow from accepting, respecting, appreciating, and understanding one another as equal members of society. This enriches our communities and fosters harmony. For truly, is that not what our struggle is about? Aren’t we merely trying to lay the foundations for a brighter future for our children? We must educate our people because education stands for: E quality Deteriorates Until Common Attitude Toward Individual Observes Normative ideology Thanks for reading. Comments are welcomed in the course of my email at raamoraaxo@hotmail.com Ali Malaaq Ahmed Criminologist and political scientist Jan. 3, 2005

Unlike in 1998 they won't have much bargaining power [believe me the Kismayo card won't work in putting pressure on Garowe] added with the difficult geographical location as an enclave outside Pland proper and lower level of development and security than even the most underdeveloped regions of Pland, Mudug, Sool, Sanaag and Ayn. Bargaining power to what? Join Puntland? :confused: Sxb this news isn't reported anywhere, except in AllPuntland.com. It is more in the interest of Puntland to "acquire" Cabudwaq and environs then vice versa sxb. As for the development thing, sxb you really need to go back and read your qabiil comment in the other thread. Unsubstantiated qabiil bravado is truly not healthy for you. I'm sorry to say but you need to stop abusing it (qabiil). I don't know if you've heard, but we're talking about regions in Somalia, the most underdeveloped nation on the face of this earth Kula haa behind :rolleyes: What I think you need to do is to stop listening to your own lies, open your eyes, and stop being overly biased and unconvincing at times.

Interesting news. If this story becomes true, I won't surprised, since the only thing that was stoping north/western Galgaduud from joining Puntland was Abdulahi Yusuf. Now that he is out of the picture, what else is their to stop them, especially since Puntland has more then once offered an invitation? :confused:

Only Somalis can solve problems in their country I concur, because I've been against the notion of "peacekeepers" from the get go. We placed ourselves in this mess, and only we can back out of it.