I'm curious is this gonna be the first real election for the leadership? i.e. one man, one vote

Faarax brown was being diplomatic when he said this memorial was ugly, its actually hideous. If they must build memorials we can do much better than this joke of a tank. I hope there aren't any statues built in memory of SNM soldiers it would be against islamic traditions to honor the mujahids with statues and replicas. Artistic expression is not limited to statues as far as memorials go so perhaps we need more creativity and some real life artist to be commissioned for these tasks. The hypocracy coming from Somaliland detractors never ceases to amaze me. Yesterday they were gun-ho about naming an airport after the late Abdulahi Yusuf (AUN), I believe it was a full 5-6 years ago that he was responsible for the killing of thousands of Somali people in Mogadishu when the ethiopian army was unleashed (unprecedented for Somalia and its capital), but hey let's sweep that under the rug he's a "national" hero now that he is deceased in the name of Somalinimo and all things reconciliatory. Now I ask them, if people who commit nothing short of treason are blessed with Airports being named after them in the context of Somalia, where do you get off commenting on anything to do with memorials?

AfricaOwn;807300 wrote: ^^ He'll be an eventful weekend I think. A lot of the landers from tri-state area, Boston, DC, VA will be there no doubt Beyond tri-state, Canada, Cali and other far off places will be well represented Inshallah.

Maxa laga fahma nimankan hadalka is dhex wada, dhaqan xuma o eedeb daranaa. The guy in the beige needs to be quiet and let the man finish even a single sentence and what's up with the hand kissing at the end

Mario B;806805 wrote: Sorry, I take it back, Somaliland is a recognised independent republic that has got nothing to do with Somalia. Trolling 101

Che -Guevara;806521 wrote: ^You sound angry with bed-wetting comment. It must be brought on by something? Perhaps Stoic was always a supporter of Somaliland, why are you surprised at bed-wetting comments when you regularly slander Somaliland and pretty much anything that isn't AL-Shabab or anti-Ethiopia.

Abtigiis;806353 wrote: I have always been objective. But objectivity does not include saying things for cheap populism. I oppose the clan enclave and its attendant clan philosphy in what calls itself Somaliland. That is being a unionist not a tribalist. For your information, one of the 9 killed from the Liyu Police is a very close relative of mine. He died while trying to kill innocent civillians. I stand with the victims, not aggressors. The rethoric from some of the elders from Gaashaamo is as irresponsible as the actions of Iley's gangs. We have since asked the ONLF to issue a statement condemning the attack on Gaashaamo, and I believe it is on its way. This is not a clan warfare, it is a war instigated by Iley, with the blessing of Meles, to create more enmity bewteen neighbouring Somali clans. Many believe this is a cheap attempt to make the Liyu police popular in the O-lands and I agree some are falling for it. But this bare-faced clan aggression must be fought and the Gaashamo people are doing that. The day the Gaashamo people join hands with the SL admin and attack Buuhoodle, we shall also speak against it. Unlike you, dear lander, our political positions are not glued to our ancestry. They are based on solid analysis of each case on its merits. Well perhaps you can elaborate on how my 'political position is glued to my ancestry', but you will be hard pressed to find any articles or posts where I talk of tribes ganging up and fighting other tribes or where I speak of stereotyping an entire populace based on some fabrications being passed as intellectual writing or simply disrespecting women in order to score tribal points on an online forum. That is something you do best I am afraid, though I do carry my colors on my sleeves as being a Somalilander. Your labeling Somaliland a 'tribal enclave' and repeating it often enough won't make it so, if you have deep rooted tribal grievances or inferiority complex than may God help you with that. Somaliland has shown its ability to spread power locally and to have a sharing of power at the highest as well that is fact, a historical fact that tribal groups that have been living in the bushes for decades and refuse to evolve can only dream of. Now I am not here to discredit the ONLF and their long standing war against the Ethiopian government, but to suggest that the ONLF is going to be a friend to Gashaamo or ally is making a mockery of the situation and its history. ONLF has been guilty of ransacking and encroaching on other Somalis in the region as well, the only difference is they didn't have Ethiopian police uniforms. So if you're an agent for the ONLF and you wanna promote this line of 'the enemy of my enemy is my friend' its understood. However, ONLF statements makes no difference to this situation so please don't insult peoples intelligence, I am afraid they don't hold much power or sway and lack a clear M.O for these population to real care what the ONLF thinks. Now I'm curious when you say your a 'unionist' do you think somalis in Ethiopia should unite? and what about all 5 Somali inhabitated regions?

Abtigiis;806341 wrote: under-attack from Liyu Police militia, which has been killing people in other parts of the region, the people of Gaashamo refused to let their daughters raped, and their men killed for no reason. The proud people of Gaashamo also refused to take the Liyu-Poice for a national or regional police force, and saw it for what it is, which is Iley's tribal gangsters. The Gaashamo people fought heroically, killing 9 of the attacking dogs and is organising itself very well to stop this petulent aggression. All freedom-loving Somalis must stand shoulder to shoulder with the people of Gaashamo. Lying, hypocrisy and bad political culture has become a national trait for somalis. The Khaatumo guys who were denouncing aggression at Buuhoodle few weeks ago are now the main transmitors of the false news that Gaashaamo people are Alshabab. This useless politicking is despicable and must be denounced vehemently. In the end, we either have to stand for the ideals of freedom and truth in all seaons, or should not cry foul when injustice and aggression faces us. I am exteremly proud of the heroism of the people of Gaashamo. I wish them success and peace. Is this a poor attempt at showing objectivity? What happened to your usual myopic tribal think? Some might say your the finest example of this 'political culture' you allude to.

xiimaaya;806071 wrote: Lander make our day and try to invade. Liyo police are eradicating your populous in kilinga shanaad . worry about that for now.. and what sort of name is "lander" lmao When you say make 'our' day I have no clue who your reffering to. Dude I'm on that march madness tip right now sitting on my love seat, no appetite for 'invasions' georgetown just put messed up my bracket and that is my main concern at the moment, but you are more than welcome to fly yourself to these front line villages and fight. You must be rather young let me tell you how 'lander' came about, I was 19-20 when I first joined this site and people reffering to themselves as Somalilanders were few and far in between, I saw some like minded opponents of SL belittling my country and decided to jump into the fray. I know you like the name though, you sound like you're a disgruntled Somalilander, I can choose a different name and give you this one if you like.

^ Tell the poor lad The old man is retired and doesn't run much business himself anymore, he was always extremely land rich on very valuable territory, though some of that land has been recently taken over by the Djibouti dictatorship. He also had several other businesses but 1.6 billion dollars? hmm He's never been a fan of the spotlight I don't think he's gonna like this type of publication if it is true and it gets published in The Economist.

xiimaaya;805992 wrote: i mean whats going on ? how can maakhir with less people are mor fierce against any intrusion into their land while khaatumites elders and and childern are being arrested and humiliated? Also often Somalilanders would wage wars and but dare not invade maakhir land:confused::confused::confused: First, nobody is more fierce than nobody if you really believe that you are only deceiving yourself. The political strategy of the two communities have differed. One thing the people of Sanaag who are pro and anti-Somaliland have in common is that they have opted to avoid what would be seen as politically provocative and more importantly provocative from a security point of you. In my observation the people of Eastern Sanaag in the last few years have been engaging with NGOs and their own diaspora on how to better their region. They had good plans to make major expansions to the port of Lasqoraay for example, I think those plans within the community faltered a bit since, but intent was always there and its just one some other efforts they have made. In comparison, you have the opponents of Somaliland in Sool (I'm not implying that is the entire population of Sool), who focus their tribal meetings in the diaspora on arming tribesmen and fighting with Somaliland. This obviously will get the attention of Somaliland. Also, you have to keep in mind when some from Sool allied themselves with Puntland and allowed their hometowns to be a base for military confrontation with Somaliland as early as 2006 if I'm not mistaken, this became the major flashpoint in the region. So overall I personally believe the people of Sanaag have been more political astute in not embracing military adventures by Abdulahi Yusuf and also (for opponents of Somaliland) not making themselves to be a security and military threat by focusing their diaspora monies on fighting and creating unrest where today there is none.

Song of the year no doubt/ heesta sanadka http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lryLah1BGR4&feature=share

Can we please have 5 homes up and completed at the very least before calling some place a city? why not Mansur town or is that not enough for somali village pride? Perhaps this is in line with all the 'doctors' from bariga we got running around.

I'll go with Egal, only because he was able to hold us together in the most crucial period of our history. I really think without his seasoned leadership during those pivotal times, there would be no Somaliland as we know it today. Otherwise I respect all the presidents of Somaliland past and present, we're very harsh on Siilanyo now that he's in office just like Riiyalee when he was in office, but I bet people will remember Siilanyo much more fondly when he's gone too.

King of who? who's this guy? I thought wanna be kings of dusty villages were only in Puntland, did we import their odd ways? Someone fill me in LoL

Che -Guevara;805298 wrote: Only Somalis would make excuses for mass murderers. So of all I wrote all you managed to gather was that I was 'making excuses for mass murderers'? Your being a simpleton, you go around asking people how they suppose Siad Barre should have 'dealt with suppresing' rebellions (when discussing his genocidal attempts in Somaliland) and yet I'm the one making excuses? Odd to say the least, I wouldn't dream of excusing any leader responsible for mass killings. What I said was to keep Aidiid's actions in perspective (historically and politically) since you have people making absurd claims he should be more or less responsible than the former legitimate heads of state of Somalia for the bloodshed that occured in this very same thread. If you harbor a certain disdain or bias towards Aidiid for tribal reasons that's understandable, but don't go putting words in my mouth about excusing any mass murder committed by his forces. I didn't see any condemnation when people were making excuses for the former criminal defense minister of Somalia Ali Samatar. Why aren't you disturbed by the excuses being made on behalf of this individual? He held more power and responsibility than Aidiid, and there is more evidence of the orders he gave in acts of mass murder, not to mention he's alive and has had the opportunity to answer for what he has done unlike Aidiid. So why is this guy not worthy of further scrutiny? hmmm...I'm starting to think you're alot more like the simpleton somalis you wish to lump me in with, is it possible?

nuune;804247 wrote: Diktoorka is taking Puntland with him, his updates are quite amazing though he over kills it sometimes like when said Puntland will send military satellite into orbit, markaas baan gacan u taagey. lol^

More than dreaming abwanow we have been rebuilding. Somaliland is flattered to inspire all other copy cat 'lands' just look at Puntland and Jubbaland and Azania, we lead they follow. Best you keep pre-occupied with bringing Somalia back from the failed state status than perhaps you can afford to worry about maps and semantics.

Why is Puntland paranoid? Being a part of the TFG automatically means you will be a part of the discussions, isn't he PM of current TFG from Puntland? Somali politicians can be outright childish.

K.O.W;804171 wrote: Do you read what you write at all? You speak of peace, yet you're the one waging war. You speak of stability, yet you're the one threatening it. You speak of Clan Pride, yet you're the one suffering from it. SUBXANALLAH! Are you all hypocrites like the Yahuud? I mean, this is just preposterous! Every man from the Tribe of Hergeisa/Burco, they speak of the truth, yet you guys say one thing and do completely the opposite! The Somali people are divided along clan territories/lines. Do we or do we know recognize that? YES. Then, I ask you this, my Hypocrite friends, in what part don't you understand, "To you be in your territory and to us be in our territory". If you truly accepted this, then what is there to fight about? Who defines these tribal territories? No I don't recognize what you mean its very grey and good luck trying to get others to see it your way as far as the delineation of thse 'territories' go. Nobody will agree on them. Perhaps you need to come to terms with that fact that the territory of Somaliland isn't formed based on tribal territory and never had been in the past.

slightly frustrated are we? qabil aside you will come to terms with Somaliland sooner or later all the other 'lands' I cannot say.

K.O.W;804137 wrote: Abdul, it's not a Darwiish character to brag about Buuhoodle not being in the hands of the Somalidiid. We should've been in a position of them begging us for mercy or at least, to "Take our army away from Burco". Today, our Capital is in their hands (Forcefully) and they're sitting 20 kilometers away from Buuhoodle. I don't know why Reer Khaatumo are throwing Parties around the world. I don't know what's there to celebrate, GOD DAMMIT! Ask yourself if Clanish pride is going to improve the livelihood of your people, surely you don't think it will. What will be gained from war? fighting with your own people in lascanood or tribes you settle with in those regions will get you no where. There is nothing to be gained from tribal wars especially with those closest to you. You may see people as 'Somalidiid' and yourself as a mighty and proud 'Darwiish' they may see you as a spoilt member of Siad Barre's MOD alliance with a sense of entitlement and a false sense of importance. At the end of the day any of this hardly matters, it matters little who hold what town in the grand scheme of things. Peace and stability is more important than any of that.

Who's really to say what type of leader Aideed would have made, despite the mayhem and bloodshed that occured in Somalia we ought to still keep a perspective on Aideed's time. First, Aideed never had absolute power of the country or even the South of Somalia, Siad Barre threw a wrench in those plans with the appointment of Ali Mahdi which I'm sure he realized would cause a fracture within the former USC. Not to mention the American intervention and being surrounded by countless other power hungry and opportunistic leaders within various factions of the former USC like Osman Cato. Secondly, Aideed was a military leader and being a military man I'm only to assume that he's not well suited at playing politics or even the art of making peace at the height of conflict. He did say the right things but as many have pointed out his actions were towards solidifying power and stomping out any opposition. In other words there was no peace for him to keep since at the height of his power he had never known peace, it was still civil war. Secondly, those from Somaliland know very well there are parallels to be drawn from the experience in the south to our very own. Military leaders in the north willingly gave up power and that is the single biggest saving grace of Somaliland, otherwise I don't see how our faith would have been any different from the south. Had the elders of Somaliland and the SNM leadership not agreed upon dissolving the SNM and making way for civilian leadership, I fear it would have been a matter of time before serious wars between various SNM leaders would have exploded and the bloodshed reached levels from which no one side would compromise given the hardened military mindset of these leaders (much like the south). Furthermore, Somaliland had the Burco and Borama conferences that brought together communities in the North to at least agree on some sort of initiative to promote peace and good neighborly relations. So had there been similar conferences in the South that brought together all the tribal elders and representatives and had the same outcomes, would there have been continued bloodshed? who knows really, what is certain is that power was never fully consolidated in the South and they had the unfortunate luck (since it was the seat of former government power) of drawing foreign interventions and interest. Not to mention the tribal and cultural make up of the South is just far more complicated than it was in Somaliland. This is not to diminish the crimes of Aideed and his lot in any way, being a military man doesn't excuse you from having sense of morality or understanding the bigger picture in terms of human suffering and loss. Nor does it diminish the responsibilities that any leader takes by virtue of his position and power. I wanted to emphasize that it was a time of mayhem and that Aideed despite being the most powerful man in Somalia for a brief period, never was able to consolidate that power. Things fell apart relatively quickly and after a while it was hard to keep track of who was fighting whom and who was loyal to whom at least for someone without intimate knowledge of the affairs of South Somalia.

Carafaat;802731 wrote: waryaa Mustafe, check his advice on Somaliland's int status and relations with Somalia. http://www.togdheernews.com/v2/?p=16466 Check his advice on Somaliland Constitutional Affairs. http://sonna.net/content/xaaji-cabdi-waraabe-muxuu-ka-yidhi-go%E2%80%99aanka-madaxweyne-siilaanyo-ku-dhaqan-geliyay-furashada The man knows everything and intervene's in all issue's. He even has an opinion on the Budget of the goverment. He cant read nor write and still folks like Xaaji Xunjuf, listen and follow to the advice of these old man. I'm not sure why you decided to target this old man but perhaps you have a poor understanding of the political system of Somaliland, in part based on british systems. The upper house passes laws doesn't mean they make them,due to protocol (only) they outrank the lower house but the power lies in the lower house and the government is responsible to answer to lower house of parliment. The Gurti essential roles in Somaliland are to play peacemaker in case of political stalemates and reconcile people during small tribal feuds that occur. In Canada members of the Senate (upper house) are elected for life and serve out a life term. They simply pass the laws that have already been passed by the lower house and today people are starting to discuss the role of Senate and how to reform it after 145 years. So if this man has opinions on government matters so be it, he's an elder nobody will dare tell him to be quiet. Not sure how it diminishes the government in anyway I haven't seen him sway any single issue of importance and I wonder what is the motivation for you targeting this oday. Perhaps a more important matter for you should be to sort out your own stance on Somaliland instead of trying to have your cake and eat it too.

Che -Guevara;800952 wrote: lool what's this doing in the political section? lol I was thinking the same XX is this your store man you looking for free advertising eh? Try Somaliland Press ninyahow you'll reach your target audience better.