Majdi, But i wonder y he is not on list of those cards that the Americans distributed. It seems Mr. Bush is a fan of Al Sahaf too. I guess Bush doesn't want this "great" guy to be killed or go to prison. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- http://www.thesundaymail.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5936,6335441%255E25778,00.html Iraqi minister 'a classic': Bush From correspondents in Washington 25apr03 US President George W Bush had some knee-slapping laughs at the expense of former Iraqi Information Minister Mohammed Saeed al-Sahhaf, known for his in-your-face defiance, he told NBC. "Somebody accused us of hiring him and putting him there. He was a classic," Bush laughed in an interview with NBC television today, when reminded of al-Sahhaf's remarks to the effect that Iraqi troops were repulsing US forces at the Baghdad airport and that the war was almost over. "You know, a lot of the stuff I get, people come in and report to me - did you hear what so-and-so said, or did you see that? So I get a lot of things secondhand," Bush said. "But in the case of the statue (of Saddam being toppled), or Sahhaf, somebody would say he's getting ready to speak, and I'd pop out of a meeting or turn and watch the TV. "He was great." Al-Sahhaf has turned himself in to US authorities, but his words are still very much alive on the Web. Among them: "My feelings, as usual, we will slaughter them all." "Our initial assessment is that they will all die." "Faltering forces of infidels cannot just enter a country of 26 million people and lay besiege to them! They are the ones who will find themselves under siege." -------------------------------------------------------------------------

Quite -Storm, I always enjoyed watching and listening to this guy. He was always confident and sure of himself. You could almost believe everything he was saying. Not to mention he was hilarious! I especially liked the day the americans entered baghdad and he was on the Palestine hotel rooftop talking to journalists in Arabic/English. Saying there were no Americans in Baghdad. Some of My favorite quotes was: "My feelings - as usual - we will slaughter them all" "They do not even have control over themselves! Do not believe them!" I wonder what americans thought watching Mohamed Al Sahaf... Rageh Omaar also did a great job covering the war--unlike those american "journalists" aka propagandists. Nabad.

Cant_Remember They are forced to choose b/w an ass and a pig!!!

50 Cent, Jay-Z book Canadian date It's official: 50 Cent and Jay-Z are touring together, and will hit Toronto July 1 to celebrate Canada Day at Molson Amphitheatre. The hot rappers head up the KISS 92.5 Wham Bam lineup, and more artists will be announced later. Tickets, $58.50, $42.50, $28.50, and $23.50 (lawns) go on sale Saturday at noon through TicketMaster. Order by phone at 416-870-8000 or online at www.ticketmaster.ca or www.kiss925.fm There is a same-day draw policy, and a limit of eight tickets per person. There are a limited number of lawn tickets at $9.25. There is no word on additional Canadian dates as of yet. ------------------------------------------------------- Source: http://www.canoe.ca/JamMusic/apr24_50cent-sun.html http://www.chartattack.com/damn/2003/04/2307.cfm

50 Cent, Jay-Z book Canadian date It's official: 50 Cent and Jay-Z are touring together, and will hit Toronto July 1 to celebrate Canada Day at Molson Amphitheatre. The hot rappers head up the KISS 92.5 Wham Bam lineup, and more artists will be announced later. Tickets, $58.50, $42.50, $28.50, and $23.50 (lawns) go on sale Saturday at noon through TicketMaster. Order by phone at 416-870-8000 or online at www.ticketmaster.ca or www.kiss925.fm There is a same-day draw policy, and a limit of eight tickets per person. There are a limited number of lawn tickets at $9.25. There is no word on additional Canadian dates as of yet. ------------------------------------------------------- Source: http://www.canoe.ca/JamMusic/apr24_50cent-sun.html http://www.chartattack.com/damn/2003/04/2307.cfm

50 Cent, Jay-Z book Canadian date It's official: 50 Cent and Jay-Z are touring together, and will hit Toronto July 1 to celebrate Canada Day at Molson Amphitheatre. The hot rappers head up the KISS 92.5 Wham Bam lineup, and more artists will be announced later. Tickets, $58.50, $42.50, $28.50, and $23.50 (lawns) go on sale Saturday at noon through TicketMaster. Order by phone at 416-870-8000 or online at www.ticketmaster.ca or www.kiss925.fm There is a same-day draw policy, and a limit of eight tickets per person. There are a limited number of lawn tickets at $9.25. There is no word on additional Canadian dates as of yet. ------------------------------------------------------- Source: http://www.canoe.ca/JamMusic/apr24_50cent-sun.html http://www.chartattack.com/damn/2003/04/2307.cfm

50 Cent, Jay-Z book Canadian date It's official: 50 Cent and Jay-Z are touring together, and will hit Toronto July 1 to celebrate Canada Day at Molson Amphitheatre. The hot rappers head up the KISS 92.5 Wham Bam lineup, and more artists will be announced later. Tickets, $58.50, $42.50, $28.50, and $23.50 (lawns) go on sale Saturday at noon through TicketMaster. Order by phone at 416-870-8000 or online at www.ticketmaster.ca or www.kiss925.fm There is a same-day draw policy, and a limit of eight tickets per person. There are a limited number of lawn tickets at $9.25. There is no word on additional Canadian dates as of yet. ------------------------------------------------------- Source: http://www.canoe.ca/JamMusic/apr24_50cent-sun.html http://www.chartattack.com/damn/2003/04/2307.cfm

News from Kulmiye website, Picked up by IRIN News. ------------------------------------------------- KULMIYE Party Present Evidence Proving They Won The Elections Hargeisa, Somaliland 23 April, 2003 KULMIYE After two days of round the clock preparation putting together solid evidence to disprove claims that UDUB won the elections, high ranking party members of KULMIYE party this morning presented proof that they are ahead of UDUB on the recent presidential elections held on April 14th. The incorrect figures announced on Saturday by the Commission puts UDUB in the lead by 80 votes at 205,595, and that of KULMIYE at 205,515. Guests who attended the press conference held at MING SING hotel in Hargeisa, included: International observers The Academic Watch Committee Members of Houses of Guurti and Parliament Community and Religious Leaders Members of the Electoral Commission The party chairman Ahmed Silanyo spoke to the guests briefly explaining why KULMIYE party believes they have won the elections. In this presentation KULMIYE exposed inaccuracies that existed in the results announced by the Electoral Commission on Saturday. KULMIYE also explained to the audience how the party leads the polls by 76 votes ahead of UDUB. Assisted by large screen projectors in the presentation, Dr. Abdi Aw Dahir showed how KULMIYE attained their numbers backed by documents singed by representatives of parties and the electoral commission at each polling station. The figure announced by the Electoral Commission in favour of UDUB, was shown to be 133 votes short of the real number of votes received by KULMIYE. This number was omitted from the Burao and Garadag districts. Counting this number will put KULMIYE in the lead with a total of 205,648 votes. KULMIYE also revealed that UDUB had 7 and 23 votes added to its total from Garadag for unknown reason. These numbers are not shown on the documents approved by the representatives of the different parties and the commission. The Electoral Commission said they will take a look at the evidence presented by KULMIYE, adding that they will correct any mistakes. ------------------------------------------------- http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=33656&SelectRegion=Horn_of_Africa&SelectCountry=SOMALIA Nabad

Ameenah, In 1991, for the sake of peace, the elders in NW Somalia declared amnesty for all collaborators/members of the previous regime. And Egal made Kaahin V.P. for tribal balance in their 'government' and to get the Western tribes on side of secession. Gediid We all know that the tribes in eastern 'Somaliland' went to Garowe in 1998 to take part in the creation of 'Puntland' regional state. We also know that this area of 'Somaliland' is self governing, through it's elders, and the 'Somaliland' government has no power here. If by referendum, do you mean the the kind of Consititutional referendum held in 'Somaliland'? Which received 97% approval....This seems to be the same kind of elections Siad Barre and Saddam Hussain held. Let's an unbiased third party hold the referendum in those regions. Please practice what you preach. Nabad.

Xassan Nasra Allah, I posted before I read you message, You said it perfectly.

Ameenah, In 1991, for the sake of peace, the elders in NW Somalia declared amnesty for all collaborators/members of the previous regime. And Egal made Kaahin V.P. for tribal balance in their 'government' and to get the Western tribes on side of secession. Gediid We all know that the tribes in eastern 'Somaliland' went to Garowe in 1998 to take part in the creation of 'Puntland' regional state. We also know that this area of 'Somaliland' is self governing, through it's elders, and the 'Somaliland' government has no power here. If by referendum, do you mean the the kind of Consititutional referendum held in 'Somaliland'? Which received 97% approval....This seems to be the same kind of elections Siad Barre and Saddam Hussain held. Let an unbiased third party hold the referendum in those regions. Please practice what you preach. Nabad.

HornAfrique It is a sad day when ppl pick Abdilahi Yusuf over Cabdiqasim. I did not pick C/Yusuf. If you read my post I said we need to get rid of all these 'leaders' and warlords, the "Old Guard" of Somali politics. Just setting the record straight. Cabdiqaasim, made every effort to destabalize peaceful regions of Somalia when he was TNG leader. He was successful in 'SouthWest Land' w/ RRA and NE Somalia 'Puntland'. None of these people are good for Somalia. They are war criminals and parasites. Period. Nabad

HornAfrique They just dont want to hear the truth or facts. Let them live in their Dreamland. When 'somaliland' starts puting people like Riyaale Kaahin in jail instead of electing them 'president'. Then We'll know they are serious about Justice and Human rights and not just playing lip-service for recognition. :mad: Gediid, "The war of 1988 literally sealed that fate." The War against the Somali people by Barre started long before 1988, and the bombing of Hargeisa. I guess people outside Waqooyi Galbeed dont count.... Do you actually expect to get International recognition? The US fought a bloody civil war against secessionist. Britain is still holding on to N.Ireland/Gibralter/Falklan Islands/etc. Russia and Chechnya, China and Taiwan(still not recognized after 50 years!), India/PK and Kashmir, SriLanka and Tamil Tigers. I could go on and on forever. :cool: If they recognized every tribe/chiefdom that wanted independence this would set a dangerous precedent for themselves(International community) and create hundreds of Welfare states. Eritrea got independence because Ethiopia ALLOWED it. That's how it works. The central government has to approve it. SamiGirl/Northener-You guys sound like Bush, just repeating the same old nonsensical Mantra. P.S. Ironically, As for most of Sool/Sanaag/ buuhoodle district, 'Somaliland' says THEy can't have self-determination because it would 'violate the territorial integrity' of their state....What Hypocrisy :mad:

Who is this AbdiQassim Hassan?? Where was he been all these years(1991-2001)?? He was in overseas living it up. Now he wants to be President of Somalia?? No one in Somalia takes this guy seriously. He controls two hotels in xamar and that's about it. He gets millions of dollar from arab governments and puts it in his Swiss bank account. C/Yusuf has all of N/E Somalia that can be a base for a broad inclusive gov for Somalia. Not to mention he didnt run away when it got a little crazy like C/Qassim . But the truth is we need to get rid of the "Old Guard" which runs all Somali politics since the 1950's. We need newer younger uncorrupted leaders for Somalia. Nabad.

GarYaQaaN, You said it perfectly. The people in 'SomaliaLand' always tend to forget that Said Barre first attacked the region now called 'Puntland' in 1977. When their women were raped, the men slaughtered, their waterholes destroyed etc. You dont hear them calling for an independent state, do you? What about the Somalis which suffered the most, those living in the Bay and Bakool regions in the height of the civil war, hundreds of thousands of them starved to death and their land stolen. All I see is arrogance, lies and deceit coming from the so called 'SomaliLanders'. Nabad.

SamiGirl, The sadest part is that you actually believe all the nonsense your saying....

SomaliaOnline-President, I understand what your saying now. I wanted to ask why dont the Palistinians have these anti tank missiles--since the yahuud have M1A1 Abrams tanks like the US? I have also read that in 1998 Syria bought 500+ Kornet E's from Russia--these would be a lot more effective against tanks in Palestine then rocks/stones. What do you guys think?

SomaliaOnline-President, The Kornet E is suppose to be able to hit tanks/armoured vehicles up to 6,000 yards. I dont see how they would be exposed to fire from enemy forces from that distance and in that short amount of time.

Shyhem Thanks for the info. I had no idea the Iraqi's had Kornet-E anti-tank guided missiles. Very advance.I did a search and here is a report by ABCNews. One http://www.abcnews.go.com/sections/world/SciTech/iraq_kornetFAQ030327.html

Xassan, The Iraqis can use Depleted Uranium. That's what the americans use to slice through anything with their "precision" BOMBS...Although that does lead to cancer in the civilian population... God help the Iraqi People. I hope the American/British aggressors will make Iraq their GRAVE...Maybe that will take their arrogance away. Salaam

HornAfik, Moqdishu might be 1,ooo years old but it has only been the capital of Somalia for 31 years(1960-1991). If my math is right thats only 3.1% of Xamar's whole existence. There are many older somali cities then Xamar. Take Zaila(or berbera bosaso or maydh)which has existed since the days of the pharoahs and are mentioned by Greeks chinese hindu arabs etc. So we should keep xamar as the capital of all Somalis because they were the capital for 3.1% of their history.... :confused: Or maybe your saying that since Xamar was built by persians--that's the reason it should be the capital?!? Let's Not Make The Same Mistake TWICE. P.S.

Sorry I had a problem with the article above. It's fixed now. Ma'salaam.

The Guardian Newspaper @ www.Guardian.co.uk US thinktanks give lessons in foreign policy Brian Whitaker reports on the network of research institutes whose views and TV appearances are supplanting all other experts on Middle Eastern issues Monday August 19, 2002 A little-known fact about Richard Perle, the leading advocate of hardline policies at the Pentagon, is that he once wrote a political thriller. The book, appropriately called Hard Line, is set in the days of the cold war with the Soviet Union. Its hero is a male senior official at the Pentagon, working late into the night and battling almost single-handedly to rescue the US from liberal wimps at the state department who want to sign away America's nuclear deterrent in a disarmament deal with the Russians. Ten years on Mr Perle finds himself cast in the real-life role of his fictional hero - except that the Russians are no longer a threat, so he has to make do with the Iraqis, the Saudis and terrorism in general. In real life too, Mr Perle is not fighting his battle single-handed. Around him there is a cosy and cleverly-constructed network of Middle East "experts" who share his neo-conservative outlook and who pop up as talking heads on US television, in newspapers, books, testimonies to congressional committees, and at lunchtime gatherings in Washington. The network centres on research institutes - thinktanks that attempt to influence government policy and are funded by tax-deductible gifts from unidentified donors. When he is not too busy at the Pentagon, or too busy running Hollinger Digital - part of the group that publishes the Daily Telegraph in Britain - or at board meetings of the Jerusalem Post, Mr Perle is "resident fellow" at one of the thinktanks - the American Enterprise Institute (AEI). Mr Perle's close friend and political ally at AEI is David Wurmser, head of its Middle East studies department. Mr Perle helpfully wrote the introduction to Mr Wurmser's book, Tyranny's Ally: America's Failure to Defeat Saddam Hussein. Mr Wurmser's wife, Meyrav, is co-founder, along with Colonel Yigal Carmon, formerly of Israeli military intelligence - of the Middle East Media Research Institute (Memri), which specialises in translating and distributing articles that show Arabs in a bad light. She also holds strong views on leftwing Israeli intellectuals, whom she regards as a threat to Israel (see "Selective Memri", Guardian Unlimited, August 12, 2002). Ms Wurmser currently runs the Middle East section at another thinktank - the Hudson Institute, where Mr Perle recently joined the board of trustees. In addition, Ms Wurmser belongs to an organisation called the Middle East Forum. Michael Rubin, a specialist on Iran, Iraq and Afghanistan, who recently arrived from yet another thinktank, the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, assists Mr Perle and Mr Wurmser at AEI. Mr Rubin also belongs to the Middle East Forum. Another Middle East scholar at AEI is Laurie Mylroie, author of Saddam Hussein's Unfinished War Against America, which expounds a rather daft theory that Iraq was behind the 1993 World Trade Centre bombing. When the book was published by the AEI, Mr Perle hailed it as "splendid and wholly convincing". An earlier book on Iraq Saddam Hussein and the Crisis in the Gulf which Ms Mylroie co-authored with Judith Miller, a New York Times journalist, became the New York Times's No 1 bestseller. Ms Mylroie and Ms Miller both have connections with the Middle East Forum. Mr Perle, Mr Rubin, Ms Wurmser, Ms Mylroie and Ms Miller are all clients of Eleana Benador, a Peruvian-born linguist who acts as a sort of theatrical agent for experts on the Middle East and terrorism, organising their TV appearances and speaking engagements. Of the 28 clients on Ms Benador's books, at least nine are connected with the AEI, the Washington Institute and the Middle East Forum. Although these three privately-funded organisations promote views from only one end of the political spectrum, the amount of exposure that they get with their books, articles and TV appearances is extraordinary. The Washington Institute, for example, takes the credit for placing up to 90 articles written by its members - mainly "op-ed" pieces - in newspapers during the last year. Fourteen of those appeared in the Los Angeles Times, nine in New Republic, eight in the Wall Street Journal, eight in the Jerusalem Post, seven in the National Review Online, six in the Daily Telegraph, six in the Washington Post, four in the New York Times and four in the Baltimore Sun. Of the total, 50 were written by Michael Rubin. Anyone who has tried offering op-ed articles to a major newspaper will appreciate the scale of this achievement. The media attention bestowed on these thinktanks is not for want of other experts in the field. American universities have about 1,400 full-time faculty members specialising in the Middle East. Of those, an estimated 400-500 are experts on some aspect of contemporary politics in the region, but their views are rarely sought or heard, either by the media or government. "I see a parade of people from these institutes coming through as talking heads [on cable TV]. I very seldom see a professor from a university on those shows," says Juan Cole, professor of history at Michigan University, who is a critic of the private institutes. "Academics [at universities] are involved in analysing what's going on but they're not advocates, so they don't have the same impetus," he said. "The expertise on the Middle East that exists in the universities is not being utilised, even for basic information." Of course, very few academics have agents like Eleana Benador to promote their work and very few are based in Washington - which can make arranging TV appearances , or rubbing shoulders with state department officials a bit difficult. Those who work for US thinktanks are often given university-style titles such as "senior fellow", or "adjunct scholar", but their research is very different from that of universities - it is entirely directed towards shaping government policy. What nobody outside the thinktanks knows, however, is who pays for this policy-shaping research. Under US law, large donations given to non-profit, "non-partisan" organisations such as thinktanks must be itemised in their annual "form 990" returns to the tax authorities. But the identity of donors does not need to be made public. The AEI, which deals with many other issues besides the Middle East, had assets of $35.8m (£23.2m) and an income of $24.5m in 2000, according to its most recent tax return. It received seven donations of $1m or above in cash or shares, the highest being $3.35m. The Washington Institute, which deals only with Middle East policy, had assets of $11.2m and an income of $4.1m in 2000. The institute says its donors are identifiable because they are also its trustees, but the list of trustees contains 239 names which makes it impossible to distinguish large benefactors from small ones. The smaller Middle East Forum had an income of less than $1.5m in 2000, with the largest single donation amounting to $355,000. In terms of their ability to influence policy, thinktanks have several advantages over universities. To begin with they can hire staff without committee procedures, which allows them to build up teams of researchers that share a similar political orientation. They can also publish books themselves without going through the academic refereeing processes required by university publishers. And they usually site themselves in Washington, close to government and the media. Apart from influencing policy on the Middle East, the Washington Institute and the Middle East Forum recently launched a campaign to discredit university departments that specialise in the region. After September 11, when various government agencies realised there was a shortage of Americans who could speak Arabic, there were moves to beef up the relevant university departments. But Martin Kramer, of the Washington Institute, Middle East Forum and former director of the Moshe Dayan Centre at Tel Aviv university, had other ideas. He produced a vitriolic book Ivory Towers on Sand, which criticised Middle East departments of universities in the US. His book was published by the Washington Institute and warmly reviewed in the Weekly Standard, whose editor, William Kristol, was a member of the Middle East Forum along with Mr Kramer. "Kramer has performed a crucial service by exposing intellectual rot in a scholarly field of capital importance to national wellbeing," the review said. The Washington Institute is considered the most influential of the Middle East thinktanks, and the one that the state department takes most seriously. Its director is the former US diplomat, Dennis Ross. Besides publishing books and placing newspaper articles, the institute has a number of other activities that for legal purposes do not constitute lobbying, since this would change its tax status. It holds lunches and seminars, typically about three times a week, where ideas are exchanged and political networking takes place. It has also given testimony to congressional committees nine times in the last five years. Every four years, it convenes a "bipartisan blue-ribbon commission" known as the Presidential study group, which presents a blueprint for Middle East policy to the newly-elected president. The institute makes no secret of its extensive links with Israel, which currently include the presence of two scholars from the Israeli armed forces. Israel is an ally and the connection is so well known that officials and politicians take it into account when dealing with the institute. But it would surely be a different matter if the ally concerned were a country such as Egypt, Pakistan or Saudi Arabia. Apart from occasional lapses, such as the publication of Mr Kramer's book, the Washington Institute typically represents the considered, sober voice of American-Israeli conservatism. The Middle East Forum is its strident voice - two different tones, but mostly the same people. Three prominent figures from the Washington Institute - Robert Satloff (director of policy), Patrick Clawson (director of research) and Mr Rubin (prolific writer, currently at AEI) - also belong to the forum. Daniel Pipes, the bearded $100,000-a-year head of the forum is listed as an "associate" at the institute, while Mr Kramer, editor of the forum's journal, is a "visiting fellow". Mr Pipes became the bete noire of US Muslim organisations after writing an article for the National Review in 1990 that referred to "massive immigration of brown-skinned peoples cooking strange foods and not exactly maintaining Germanic standards of hygiene". Since he usually complains vigorously when the words are quoted outside their original context, readers are invited to view the full article at www.danielpipes.org. He is also noted for his combative performances on the Fox News channel, where he has an interesting business relationship. Search for his name on the Fox News website and, along with transcripts of his TV interviews, an advert appears saying "Daniel Pipes is available thru Barber & Associates, America's leading resource for business, international and technology speakers since 1977". The Middle East Forum issues two regular publications, the Middle East Quarterly and the Middle East Intelligence Bulletin, the latter published jointly with the United States Committee for a Free Lebanon. The Middle East Quarterly describes itself as "a bold, insightful, and controversial publication". Among the insights in its latest issue is an article on weapons of mass destruction that says Syria "has more destructive capabilities" than Iraq, or Iran. The Middle East Intelligence Bulletin, which is sent out by email free of charge - but can never-the-less afford to pay its contributors - specialises in covering the seamy side of Lebanese and Syrian politics. The ever-active Mr Rubin is on its editorial board. The Middle East Forum also targets universities through its campus speakers Bureau - that in adopting the line of Mr Kramer's book, seeks to correct "inaccurate Middle Eastern curricula in American education", by addressing "biases" and "basic errors" and providing "better information" than students can get from the many "irresponsible" professors that it believes lurk in US universities. At a time when much of the world is confused by what it sees as an increasingly bizarre set of policies on the Middle East coming from Washington, to understand the neat little network outlined above may make such policies a little more explicable. Of course these people and organisations are not the only ones trying to influence US policy on the Middle East. There are others who try to influence it too - in different directions. However, this particular network is operating in a political climate that is currently especially receptive to its ideas. It is also well funded by its anonymous benefactors and is well organised. Ideas sown by one element are watered and nurtured by the others. Whatever outsiders may think about this, worldly-wise Americans see no cause for disquiet. It's just a coterie of like-minded chums going about their normal business, and an everyday story of political life in Washington. Email brian.whitaker@guardian.co.uk

I think it is very simple for Saddam to defend Iraq. 1st. Launch a pre emptive attack on US forces in Kuwait using AlSamoud 2 and Scud missiles. Cause as much casualties as possible. 2nd. Blow up all Iraqi oil fields to disrupt/delay arial bombardement and financial gain from oil should the US win. BTW it took 8+ months to get the Kuwaiti oils fields up and running after the Gulf War. 3rd. Move all military personelle/equipment into the cities--Basra, Baghdad, Kirkuk, Tikrit etc. because in GW1 Saddams forces were killed off like flies in the open desert. 4th. Wait out the bombing and fight American soldier street to street--we all remember Xamar aka Black hawk down. 5th. Film all Iraqi casualties and distribute them to foreign news companies. Thats all I can think of now--seems the war will start Wednesday after 8 pm ET. Let's pray for the Iraqi people...

Miskiin-Macruuf-Aqiyaar The only reason all the different somali groups moved to Xamar is because that was the only place with things like toilets, hospitals, schools, AC, etc. Basically Somalia was a city-state--not a country. Siad barre spent 60% of the nations wealth in xamar--the rest in defense. It's mind-boggling to think that we should keep Xamar as the capital because of the "excellent" weather...only in Somalia. I dont know if you know this but Somalia has the longest beachline in Africa--so a city with access to the Ocean other then Xamar is NOT a problem. And to say also that Xamar is still the richest city in Somalia--shows that you have not been back there in a while. Even Places like Baydoa are better off then xamar...But to suggest that xamar is STILL the jewel of Somalia is a joke. Listen to the news--last week 100+ people have been killed there in fighting There are dozens of warlords in xamar--and if you think they'll just put down their guns and drop off their technicals...then you are very naive my friend. But everyone has their own opinions. And thats my 2cents. 1 PS I wish there was space for an "Anywhere but Xamar" vote...oh well.