Suldanka, It is time you should obey the rules of the forum.

GREAT NEWS. THANKS LIBAAX. THE PRESIDENT FINALLY ARRIVES MOGADISHO.

nayruus, are you girl or boy. i like your somalinimo heart.

NGonge, i just found out that Kenyan researchers recommended the ban of plastic bags In Kenya. Is this move by the Hargeisa administration in response to the recommendation made by researchers in Kenya as a way to counter city waste. check the link _____________________________________ NAIROBI, 24 Feb 2005 (IRIN) - Researchers in Kenya have recommended that thin plastic bags, widely used across the country for carrying shopping, be banned because they pollute the environment and are a potential health hazard. In a report released during the 21-25 February meeting of the Governing Council of the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) in Nairobi, the researchers also recommended that taxes on the manufacture of thicker plastic bags be hiked to discourage their use.__________________ SOURCE

What will people use in place of bags? Dambiil? ama Jawaan?

SOMALIA: Somaliland bans use of plastic bags IRIN NAIROBI, 1 Mar 2005 (IRIN) - Authorities in the self-declared republic of Somaliland on Monday banned the use of all types of plastic bags, information minister, Abdillahi Duale, told IRIN. "The bags have not only become an environmental problem, but also an eyesore," he said on Tuesday from the Somaliland capital, Hargeysa. The Somaliland cabinet, he added, made the decision to ban the bags, which had been nicknamed "the Hargeysa flower", following an assessment of the damage they caused to the environment. The ban marked the end of a 120-day grace period that the government had given to the public to get rid of their stocks. The bags were mostly used to carry groceries and other goods. They were often discarded and litter most streets and landscapes across Somaliland. Many of them ended up being blown around and deposited on trees or shrubs, posing a danger to livestock because the animals that feed on the leaves in the shrubs often ingest the bags accidentally. The Ministry of Trade and Industries announced the decision in a decree titled: "Banning importation, production and use of plastic bags in the country". Duale said it would be accompanied by an awareness campaign to inform the public about the danger of plastic bags. "We will use both the print and broadcast media to reach as many people as possible," he added. He said people should use reusable, environmental-friendly baskets and containers, such as sacks made of straws, reeds and sisal. "These are the kind of containers that our people traditionally used" before the arrival of the plastic bags, Duale said. Duale said all the country's seaports, airports and other border points had been instructed to enforce the ban. "We are determined as a government to enforce this ban, no matter what," he said. A week ago, researchers in Kenya recommended that thin plastic bags, widely used across the country for carrying shopping, be banned because they pollute the environment and are a potential health hazard. In a report released during the 21-25 February meeting of the Governing Council of the UN Environment Programme in Nairobi, the researchers also recommended that taxes on the manufacture of thicker plastic bags be hiked to discourage their use. Prof Wangari Maathai, the 2004 Nobel Peace Prize winner and the Kenyan assistant minister for environment, has linked plastic bag litter with malaria. She said, the bags, once discarded, fill with rainwater, offering ideal breeding grounds for malaria-carrying mosquitoes.

Arms embargo against Somalia must be tightened, UN report says UN News Center ____________________________________________ Equally important is also the new Initiave to support strategic planning for the demilitarization of Somalia.________________ SOURCE

GOOD DEBATE.

Great pics, thanks MORE PHOTOS AND INFO

however, Hargeisa and all other Somaliland towns for that matter have no town planning, no roads, no services, no sewage system, no water supply, no reliable electricity, no health services and no source of income with 90% or more of the community relying on assistance from relatives in the diaspora and the whole able-bodied population unemployed with no hope of economic or political salvation in sight. AwdalNews Editorial. I wonder why there is less concern for this deteriorating infrastracture? Is there a corruption or mismanagement on the side of Hargeisa administration to confront these problems or they just are waiting others to come and help maintain their roads and sewage system? I wonder?

SOMALI PRESIDENT VOWS LAWLESS MOGADISHU WILL BE NEW GOVERNMENT`S HOME Feb 26 11:07 Jowhar, Somalia (ANTARA News) - Despite rampant insecurity and threats to resist peacekeepers in the Somali capital, Somalia`s exiled transitional government will relocate to Mogadishu, President Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed vowed Friday. On the second day of a brief fact-finding mission to his homeland -- his first since taking the helm of the government last year -- Yusuf also rejected opposition to the peacekeeping force, saying its deployment was certain. Before leaving this town north of Mogadishu on Friday, Yusuf politely turned down offers from leaders in Jowhar and other municipalities to temporarily host his the government led by Prime Minister Mohammed Ali Gedi. "The people of Jowhar have showed their willingness to host the Somali government as an interim seat before we move to Mogadishu," he told a reception of supporters. "Other towns are also (offering) the same but the capital of Somalia is Mogadishu and we shall go there to thwart efforts of the minority of rejecting peace," Yusuf said. On Thursday, the governor of Middle Shabelle province, where Jowhar is located, had offered the town as a temporary location for the government to sit. Mogadishu has been awash in a sea of anarchic violence for 14 years since the 1991 ouster of Somali strongman Mohamed Siad Barre in 1991 turned the Horn of Africa nation into a patchwork of fiefdoms ruled by violent warlords. To get a foothold there, Gedi`s government has requested and received authorization from the African Union (AU) for the deployment of regional peacekeepers. But the proposed deployment has drawn vehement opposition from many Somalis, particularly hardline Islamic clerics in Mogadishu, who are opposed to the presence of any foreign troops in the country. In recent weeks, there have been several deadly attacks -- the fatal shooting of a BBC journalist and a roadside bombing that narrowly missed a visiting AU delegation -- that analysts believe were warnings against outside intervention. But Yusuf insisted that the peacekeepers -- initially from east African nations -- would be coming and said the government would not be deterred by "elements who are relentlessly fighting against" peace and the government. "Definitely, foreign troops will be deployed to support the disarment and that is the only way to achieve lasting peace," Yusuf said, according to AFP reported. Antara News

Danjiraha US oo ka hadley Soomaaliya BBCSomali.com Mr Bellamy waxa uu sheegey iney tahey in dowladda KMG ah ee Soomaaliya ay ku tashato Maleeshiyadeeda si ay xasilooni ugu soo celiso dalka. Sida ay ku warantey wakaaladda wararka ee Reuters, Danjiraha waddanka Mareykanka u fadhiya Kenya William M. Bellamy oo weliba xilkiisa ay ku jirto arimaha ku lug leh sidii nabad looga dhalin lahaa Soomaaliya waxa uu sheegey in dowladda Soomaaliya ay awood u leedahey iney sugto baaxaa degga waddanka iyagoo isticmaalaya maleeshiyada ay gacanta ku hayaan ninmankii markii hore la oran jirey qabqablayaasha dagaalka oo hadda dowladda ka tirsan. Isagoo ka jawaabayey su'aal ay wariyayaal weydiin, waxa uu yiri Danjiruhu, aragtidayadu waxa ay tahey in dowladda KMG ahi ay heysato wixii ay ku sugi laheyd waddanka. Sanadkii laga soo gudbey ayaa dowladda Federaaliga ee Soomaaliya lagu asaasey waddanka Kenya laakiin xubno aan badneyn ayaa ilaa iminka waddanka dib ugu laabtey. Dowladdu iyadoo uu ku boorinayo Madexweyne Cabdullahi Yusuf waxa ay codsadeen ciidamo gaaraya 7500 oo askari oo nabad ilaalin ah oo ay ka helaan wadamada ku jira Midowga Afrika iyo Jaamacadda Carabta. Ururka Midowga Afrika waxa ay ogolaadeen iney Soomaaliya u diraan ciidamo ka socda waddamad ay ka mid yihiin Djibouti, Kenya, Uganda, Sudan iyo Ethiopia, hasayeeshii ilaa iminka wakhti looma qaban ciidamadaas Soomaaliya lagu geeyo. Waxana soo kordhaya shakiga ah in taasi ay dhici doonto. Waxa soo kordheysa tirada dad ka tirsan xubnaha xukuumadda Federaaliga ee KMG ah ee Soomaaliya, dad gaar ah iyo diblomaasiyiinta dhaleeceeyey qorshahaas oo ay ku sheegeen iney tahey tallaabo halis ah oo ku lug leh tartanka mudada dheer ka dhaxeeyey Ethiopia iyo Soomaaliya. Taxadar uu muujiyey Bellamy Inkastoo haddaba uu Mareykanku ka taxadirey inuu u muuqdo mid ka soo horjeeda qorshaha Midowga Afrika uu wato, haddana Danjire Bellamy waxa uu sheegey in Soomaaliya ay khasab tahey iney dib u eegaan in ciidamada Midowga Afrika ay noqon karaan qaar waxtar leh ama qaar waxyeela keena. Dajiraha Mareykanka u fadhiya Kenya, William Bellamy oo safar ku marayey xerada qaxootiga ee Kakuma ee ku taal Woqooyiga Galbeed - Kenya ayaa saxaafadda u sheegey iney jirto halis ah iney ciidamada Soomaaliya la geynayo noqon karaan wax soo jiita xasilooni darro. Waxa uu yiri Danjiruhu, waxa jira dhowr gol-duleelo oo tallaabadaas ka muuqda. Ethiopia waxa weeyaan waddanka miletri ahaan ugu xooga badan Geeska Afrika, si aad ahna waxa ay u taageertaa Cabdullahi Yusuf, taasina waxa ay abuurtey aamin la'aan ku timaadda Soomaalida warwarka ka qaba saameynta ay Ethiopia ku yeelan karto Soomaaliya. Wareysiyo ay bixiyeen raggii horey loogu tilmaami jirey qabqablayaasha dagaalka qaarkood ee madaxda u ahaan jirey kooxaha hubeysan oo iminka xukuumadda ku jira ayaa waxa ay Soomaalida ku booriyeen iney weerar ku qaadaan ciidamada Ethiopia haddii ay dalkooda soo galaan. Cudurada ay ciidamadu keeni karaan Qaar kalena waxa ay sheegeen in ciidamo ka yimaadda Midowga Afrika ay la imaan karaan ama ay keeni karaan waddanka cudaro uu ka mid yahey HIV-AIDS. Mr Bellamy waxa uu sheegey in ciidamo shisheeya ahi ay door ka ciyaari karaan tababarka ciidamada nabad sugidda Soomaaliya, marka dambana ay ka qeyb qaadaan karaan hawsha dib u dhiska.

Somali militias should keep the peace - US envoy Thu February 24, 2005 11:12 AM GMT+02:00 By C. Bryson Hull KAKUMA, Kenya (Reuters) - The new Somali government should use its own militias to bring stability at home, instead of relying on African Union troops whose presence could invite attacks, a U.S. ambassador said on Wednesday. Bellamy said the foreign troops could play a role in training Somali security forces, but later in the rebuilding process. William Bellamy, the U.S. ambassador to Kenya whose portfolio includes peace efforts in Somalia, said the Somali government should be able to secure its restive country with militias controlled by powerful former warlords in its ranks. "Our view is that the transitional government has, potentially, the means to secure its own country," Bellamy said in response to a reporter's question. Formed last year in the relative safety of Kenya, only some elements of the new Somali government have returned to their anarchic homeland. The cabinet's stated goal of returning home by February 21 passed with the fledgling administration still in Nairobi. The government, at the urging of President Abdullahi Yusuf, has asked for a combined force of 7,500 peacekeeping troops from AU and Arab League states. The AU has approved the deployment of troops from Djibouti, Kenya, Uganda, Sudan and Ethiopia, but there is no timetable and growing doubts that it will happen. Several members of government and, privately, a growing number of diplomats, have criticised the plan as a dangerous move, owing to Somalia's longtime rivalry with Ethiopia. Though careful to say the United States did not oppose the AU plan, Bellamy said Somalia must be reconsider whether AU troops are more of a liability than an asset. "There is a risk they could be a magnet for instability," Bellamy told reporters, while touring the Kakuma refugee camp in northwestern Kenya. "There are a number of pitfalls in that course of action." Ethiopia is the military power in the Horn of Africa, and its strong support of Yusuf has bred mistrust among traditionally nationalistic Somalis wary of Addis Ababa's influence. In interviews, former warlords in the government have urged Somalis to attack Ethiopian troops, and others have said the AU soldiers would bring diseases like HIV/AIDS with them.

good news!

Editorial: Somalia's struggles / A stalemate leaves the country largely ungoverned Saturday, February 26, 2005 Pittsburgh Post-Gazette Ten years ago at the end of February 1995 the last United Nations forces were escorted out of Somalia by a task force of U.S. Marines. The withdrawal of the 18,000 Pakistanis, Egyptians, Bangladeshis and others signaled the somewhat inglorious end of a U.N. and U.S. intervention in the state on the Horn of Africa that had begun in 1992. Somalia's collapse began in January 1991 when its government, headed by a long-standing dictator, Mohamed Siad Barre, collapsed in the face of attacks by a coalition of opposing Somali forces who converged on the capital, Mogadishu. The country has not had an established government since. The problem was that those who overthrew Siad Barre were unable to agree among themselves on a successor to him, leaving a vacuum -- or, worse, a seething maelstrom of competing, heavily armed elements -- lined up roughly on the basis of clan, sub-clan and sub-sub-clan. The economy and all social services collapsed, producing a humanitarian catastrophe of starvation and lack of medical care. Somali militias took advantage of the disorder to steal wildly and widely, including from nongovernmental and U.N. organizations seeking to alleviate the suffering. U.N. forces came. Unable to cope with the violence the Somalis threw at them, they called for U.S. assistance. President George H.W. Bush sent it at the end of 1992, just before leaving office. Some said he authorized the intervention in Somalia to leave incoming President Bill Clinton a nasty present. Some order came to Somalia, but when the United Nations and the United States sought to re-establish a Somali government, to preclude a return to disorder, they failed. The famous "Black Hawk Down" incident in Mogadishu in 1993 led quickly to the withdrawal of U.S. forces. A notable lack of U.N. success led a year later to the withdrawal of its forces. What was left in Somalia for the next 10 years, until now, was slightly structured chaos, with a patchwork quilt arrangement of local governments -- warlords and sub-clans, Islamic councils and village councils -- across the country, with no central government. The Kenyans presided for two years over a sort of national conference of hundreds of Somalis in Kenya. It produced an unelected legislature, which named an unelected government, headed by a president and a prime minister with a Cabinet. When the Kenyans suggested politely that it was time for the new Somali government to go home and set up shop, the Somalis' response was that it was too dangerous to do so without foreign protection. The African Union expressed willingness to send forces to perform that function. Somalis in Mogadishu, the capital, demonstrated against the insertion of such a force, saying that they wanted no foreign troops in Somalia. So, 14 years after the last Somali government was in power in Mogadishu and 10 years after the U.N. forces left, the situation is still at a stalemate, with the country ungoverned and -- perhaps -- ungovernable. Economically, in terms of world trade, it doesn't matter. All Somalia ever exported anyway were bananas and camels, for meat and for racing. Fishing off its coastline, the longest in Africa, proceeds largely untouched by government regulation. There have been rumblings from the United States about the place potentially serving as a base for terrorists, although little or no evidence has emerged to support such a contention. It is up to the Somalis themselves to reject this lack of a government and to let the administration-in-waiting in Kenya come to Mogadishu unmolested. And that could take a while. In the meantime, the 8 million people of this miserable country pay the price for the failure of their leaders to reach agreement

Rebuild Somalia, president urges warlords Agencies Friday February 25, 2005 Somalia's president today urged the warlords and militias who have run the country for the last 14 years to put down their guns and work together to rebuild it. Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed yesterday returned to Somalia for the first time since he was elected for a week-long visit to assess the country's security situation and speak directly to the electorate. His transitional federal government has functioned from neighbouring Kenya since it was formed in October. Thousands of residents lined the 10 miles of road between Jowhar and the airstrip and many more waited at the residence where the president was expected to stay, the IRIN news agency quoted a journalist based in the town as saying. Mr Yusuf told a crowd of thousands that his government was committed to relocating to the capital, Mogadishu. Guardian Unlimited BBC reporters offload a coffin carrying the body of their colleague Kate Peyton upon its arrival from Somalia at Wilson airport in Kenya's capital Nairobi, February 10, 2005. Kate Peyton, 39, a BBC producer was shot in the capital Mogadishu shortly after she arrived to report on the lawless Horn of Africa state where the new government is hoping to end years of militia violence. The Somali police boss investigating the murder has no force to patrol his perilous beat and no money to pay them even if he had. Somalia prime minister Mohamed Ali Ghedi speaks during a Reuters interview in Kenya's capital Nairobi, February 11, 2005. Ghedi said the high-profile murder of a BBC producer in Mogaishu will not deter Somalia's new government from returning to restore order and foil opportunists trying to prolong 14 years of chaos, and he added when his cabinet returns from Kenya where it was formed it would seek to disarm Somalia's militias by negotiating with their warlord bosses many whom serve in his cabinet. Members of the former army of Somalia listen to speeches from the Somali parliament, Friday, Feb. 4, 2005 during a visit to the former police and army college in Mogadishu, Somalia. After more than a decade of anarchy, thousands of Somalis cheered, clapped and waved flowers to welcome lawmakers who flew in from exile in neighboring Kenya to determine whether it was safe to return home. But before the week was out, shots were fired at the delegation and a foreign journalist was slain, raising doubts about the government's ability to reclaim Mogadishu from gunmen. The speaker of the Somali parliament, Shariif Hassan Sheikh Aden addresses students at the Ahmed Gurey school,on Feb. 9, 2005 in Mogadishu, Somalia. Members of the former army march as they wait for the arrival of the speaker of the Somali parliament, Shariif Hassan Sheikh Aden to the former police and army academy on Feb. 6, 2005 at a small airport in Mogadishu, Members of the Islamic courts listen to members of the Somali parliament, Saturday, Feb. 5, 2005 in Mogadishu, Somalia. A Somali girl cheers as members of the Somali parliament drive through Mogadishu, Somalia Saturday, Feb. 5, 2005. A gunman carries a flower in his gun barrel, on Feb. 5, 2005 in Mogadishu, Somalia.

Excellent article. Thanks Zaylici. You said, The demands of the TFG for foreign army deployment, excluding Ethiopian army deployment, is, I believe, a reasonable one, because deployment of neutral peacekeeping force is likely to change the prevailing conditions, which currently favor conflict and exploitation rather than cooperation and reconciliation, by monitoring and reinforcing cease fire and other broadly reached agreements. I really concur with this viewpoit of yours and i have often conceived the possibility of lesser ethnic conflict and chaos if AU is given the chance to deploy troops into Somalia. I know there are many disagreements over their deployments in which many authors based their viewpoints as nothing but conspiracy between our leaders and outside forces. Of course, Most of our people are going through hard transition of psychological and social problems such as severe animosity, distrust, family feuds. Do you think this government has the means to heal this unfortunate trend in Somalia?

Somali leaders receive rousing welcome at home www.chinaview.cn 2005-02-25 03:35:10 NAIROBI, Feb. 24 (Xinhuanet) -- Carnival mood greeted exiled Somalia President Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed and Prime Minister Mohammed Ali Ghedi on their arrival Thursday in the Jowhar town for a week-long tour to the chaotic Horn of Africa nation. Several thousand cheering and dancing Jowhar residents lined the 15-km stretch in the airfield in Jowhar, north of Mogadishu, to welcome the president's plane, waving Somali flags and posters of the president and prime minister as well as placards, reports reaching here said Thursday. "Welcome to your country," "The people of Jowhar welcome the transitional federal government," "Long live the president and the prime minister," read some of the banners in the chanting throng. The president and the prime minister are leading a high powered delegation who will be examining the possibility of relocating the interim government from Kenya. It is unclear whether the leaders will visit the bullet-riddled Mogadishu during the visit because of security concerns. The Somali leaders flew out from Nairobi, Kenya, in separate planes and touched down by 12:30 (0930 GMT) in Jowhar, 90 km north of the capital. As he stepped off the plane, President Yusuf Ahmed reportedly received a 21-gun salute from single cannon as police in military uniform stood to attention. The delegation then headed to the center of Jowhar, the provincial capital of the Middle Shabeele region, amid cheers and applause from the crowd lining the road. Yusuf was expected to travel later to his home region of Puntland in northeast Somalia but was to follow a separate itinerary from Ghedi, who was to visit at least three other towns on his five-day tour -- Beletwern, Baidoa and Galkayo. The planned trip by Ghedi and Yusuf marked the first time that they stepped on Somali territory since their election in October 2004. Military experts from various African countries are currently in Somalia to assess the situation ahead of a proposed deployment of a peace mission there. However, considerable divisions remain within the cabinet about whether they can base themselves in the unstable capital. The regional Inter-governmental Authority on Development, whose members are Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia, Sudan and Uganda, sponsored two years of peace talks between various Somali clans and factions that culminated in the formation of the transitional federal government. The process ended a 14-year period when Somalia lacked a functional central government. The new government, which includes several faction leaders, has not been able to relocate from Nairobi to Somalia, citing security considerations. However, it has come under increasing pressure from the Kenyan government and western diplomats to do so. Enditem

SOMALIA: President, prime minister begin week-long tour 24 Feb 2005 15:31:17 GMT Source: IRIN NAIROBI, 24 February (IRIN) - Somali President Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed and Prime Minister Ali Muhammad Gedi on Thursday arrived in the town of Jowhar, 90 km north of Mogadishu, the Somali capital, to begin a week-long "meet the people" tour of various regions in the country, a local journalist told IRIN. "Thousands of residents lined up the 16-km stretch of road between the town and the airstrip and many more waited at the residence where the President is expected to stay," Yusuf Ali Usman, a Jowhar-based journalist, said. In Nairobi, the director of communications in Gedi's office, Hussein Jabiri, confirmed the leaders' departure. Yusuf and Gedi, accompanied by a large delegation of the Kenyan-based interim Somali government, arrived at Jowhar "at around noon local time". Local leaders, led by faction leader Muhammad Umar Habeb, who is also the governor of Jowhar, received the delegation, Usman said. Yusuf and Gedi had been due to make the trip on 23 February, but were delayed by logistical problems. The tour marks the first time they have stepped on Somali territory since Yusuf's election in October 2004 and his appointment of Gedi two months later. The president's spokesman, Yusuf Baribari, told IRIN the trip was part of the new government's relocation process. "[it] is a process which aims at open dialogue with the people, [to] listen very carefully to their concerns and [to] explain the government's policies and programmes," he said. "It is a bottom-up approach." The delegation was expected to meet representatives of various sections of the population including elders, women, the youth, politicians, business and religious leaders. The delegation is also due to visit the towns of Galkayo, Beletweyn and Baidao, all in southern and central Somalia. It was not immediately clear whether the two leaders would visit Mogadishu. At least 40 members of the interim government left Nairobi on 16 February to prepare for Yusuf's visit. Some 80 members of the 275-strong parliament are also in Mogadishu as are military experts from various African countries who are in Somalia to assess the situation, ahead of the proposed deployment of a peace mission there. The regional Inter-governmental Authority on Development, whose members are Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia, Sudan and Uganda, sponsored two years of peace talks between various Somali clans and factions, which culminated in the formation of the transitional federal government. The process ended a 14-year period during which Somalia lacked a functional central government. The new government, which includes several faction leaders, has not been able to relocate from Nairobi to Somalia, citing security considerations. However, it has come under increasing pressure from the Kenyan government and western diplomats to do so.

Thanks for posting. This is a very funny development, a dictator making his beliefs mandatory school curriculum.

Indeed a grieving fact.

New Info and Pictures.

RRA. Alooshaa in dhuuriyaase. Darwiish: Dabadeedna. RRA. May Dabadeed may ki jiree Wah.

Historic map of Somalia.

A Tail of Two Cities , A Personal Perspective On Mogadishu and Los Angeles By Faisal A. Roble Feb. 20, 2005 What makes one city a super city and another one a sub city are not so much the novelties of architecture and the marvels of civil engineering only. It is not because one has imposing and impressive collections of sky scrappers, bridges or freeways. It is the dynamic social forces that each city blankets under its belly and nurtures within its womb. It is the magical power of diversity or the lack of it that gives cities the respective labels of super city vs. sub city. READ MORE