Martin Plaut ----------------- The World Food Programme says US curbs are in part behind its move to shut its Somali feeding programmes for more than 100,000 acutely malnourished children. The US restrictions affect funding for areas controlled by groups designated as terrorist. Washington has imposed sanctions on the hardline Somali Islamist group, al-Shabab. But the WFP says it is doing all it can to get the aid through without it being controlled by the Somali insurgents. Drought and war has left 109,000 children-under-five acutely dependent on the feeding centres run by the WFP. But money has run out. The centres are closing, to focus the remaining resources on the most needy - babies under two years old, who would never recover from acute malnutrition. Aid workers have told the BBC the cuts are the result of a freeze on funding by the United States Office of Foreign Disaster Assistance. Josette Sheeran, executive director of the WFP, said she was unaware of a ban. She continued: "We've heard of needing to deal with the particular restrictions they have on where aid goes and needing to look at whether or not we can work in compliance with those restrictions." The US embargo is stopping American aid funds from reaching the vast areas of southern and central Somalia, where the UN estimates half the population is now in need of food aid. Ms Sheeran said that "getting help to them inevitably involves dealing with al-Shabab and other hardline groups now in control of the towns and villages across the region". "We take all precautions to ensure that our food only goes to the most needy and is not handled by any particular political groups in Somalia or elsewhere and in particular al-Shabab in Somalia," she said. "We hope to work through these difficulties and challenges. "Right now in Somalia, WFP has by far the biggest programme and there are very few aid groups left functioning there." Ms Sheeran says the WFP is working with the administration of US President Barack Obama on an almost weekly basis to try to resolve these difficulties. In the meantime the children of Somalia are going without the food they so badly need. (BBC AFRICA)

The US has nothing to do with it. The UN is way more involved in Somalia. And Shariif has always been down to talk to Shabaab. The thing is, Shabaab has to be down to talk too. So far the only talking they've done is of "revenge, expelling the gallo, killing the murtaad" and so on. I'm sure there will be amnesty if Shabaab decides to take it easy.

Cheering for someone's death, whether your enemy or your friend, is not religious, is not nationalistic, it's SAVAGE. Wake up people, this isn't a football game and your favorite team just scored a goal. This is real and human lives are being lost.

The first pic is Algiers, yeah. The second one as well (and you can see I'm smiling in it). I'm not smiling in those Romania pics because it was really rough there this year. Overnight the country degraded to like 1991 level. It really shocked me. lol I can't say I've met Gheorghe Hagi, a splendid player. Too bad he's not a good coach also. nuune, what's the dangerous thing? I'm sorry my Somali sucks And finally, yeah, Algeria is amazing (I was really well treated over there and it felt like paradise except for the times I was sick from the chemaa) and I have a feeling Somalia is too, though I haven't been yet. I can't say why exactly I have a soft spot for these countries, but I love them like my mother.

^so why didn't you judge between yourselves? This guy lived like a prince in Somalia.

there!

Only thing that's foreign created is these haters on this forum.

hmm that's weird..cant see the pics

Got back on September 1st, had a great time. Here's some pics: These two are from Algeria: And these are all from Romania: Peep the jersey lol

long live prostitutes!

Funny you should ask. I'm from the Sherban tribe of Bucharest. If you don't believe me, find me on facebook: Sherban Shabeel.

Al-Shabaab = enemy of Islam, enemy of Somalia God forgive them

So what? Most cities are full of hookers. Especially rich ones.

And by the way I don't always condemn suicide bombing. It's sad, but say in Palestine you can understand why it happens. But this guy? What the hell was he fighting for? Not his homeland, not his brothers, but a vague idea that "the West is evil, and they treat Muslims bad".

So this guy blows up people in Kenya, sends young Somali boys to blow themselves up because he doesn't like the President, or because he woke up on the wrong side of bed, or something like that, and at the end of the day he's still your Muslim brother??? That's kind of confusing. I'm not saying hand him over to the gallo, at least shoot him yourselves.

Originally posted by Saddiiq: If that's the case, why did they refuse to return to Moqdisho when Sharif and his parliament made the 24 hour emergency call for them to come back. That's a joke in bad taste. I have yet to see a reliable source that confirms such a call was made. It's an internet myth propagated by the anti-Shariif bandwagon who never tire of trying to draw comparisons between the current president of Somalia and Mr. Yusuf. Originally posted by Saddiiq: Sharif was offering to negotiate with them since he arrived in Nairobi in Jan 2007, why did it take them 2 years to consider his offer? Could it be something that was happening during those 2 years that persuaded them to look for a way out. Hmm...what could have been happening during those two years that persuaded the Ethiopians to pull out? I dunno, 18 000 people dead for nothing, the realization that 99.99% of Somalis HATE them, the Ethiopian economy degrading to a point where keeping soldiers abroad was vampirising the little resources left for the starving Ethios...and so on. Originally posted by Saddiiq: Listen to yourself. The only territory the man controls is his office desk & you're talking about his pie. Kindly stop pretending you don't know what I'm talking about. It has nothing to do with territory and you know it. It's a question of legitimacy. Look at Somaliland. Territorialy, it's a country. Economically, it doesn't exist. Nobody trades with Somaliland, because no one recognizes Somaliland as a separate country. Whether you disagree with me when I say Shariif has the support of most Somalis isn't important. But you must agree with me that Shariif has the support of the international community. And the international community will decide, whether we like it or not, whether Somalia is a country or a rogue territory. Therein lies the problem. Shabaab is just trying to get rid of Shariif by force and leave the President's seat empty, so that the outside world doesn't have the choice anymore but to recognize them as legitimate leaders. That's the pie they're after. Whether they control more pasture land and desert is not so important.

Martin PLAUT -------------------- --------- The World Food Programme (WFP) is closing 12 feeding centres for mothers and children in Somalia. The WFP says it has simply run out of money and now has to make cuts. The decision has been made despite the ongoing crisis in Somalia, and the WFP says the reductions are now hitting people across east Africa. Despite the depth of the need, the WFP says the international community has failed to rally round with the funding it requires. Severe drought The decision to close the feeding centres in Somalia was particularly difficult for the World Food Programme. But Peter Smerdon, a WFP spokesman in Nairobi, Kenya, says the organisation had little option. It had only received 40% of the funding needed for the year ahead. The cuts could hardly have come at a more serious moment - the conflict in Somalia has driven tens of thousands to flee from their homes. And the country is also suffering from a severe drought. As a result the UN estimates that more than three million Somalis need food aid - half the total population. Put another way, one child in five is acutely malnourished, yet the WFP is having to close the services on which they depend. Nor is it just in Somalia that these cuts are being made. In neighbouring Kenya the organisation is running out of food. And in Ethiopia and Uganda services are being restricted. SOURCE: http://news.bbc.co.u k/2/hi/africa/825603 1.stm

LOL Puntland is still crying over that naval base

Very sad event and I hope the government will compensate the owner in full. Of course, Shabaab shelling the veterans' hospital isn't much better

God help those kids. Shabaab is trying to impose divine law in hell. Doesn't make much sense, does it? First, Somalia needs to enter an age of peace and reconstruction. THEN you can start enforcing the law. IN TIMES OF WAR THERE IS NO LAW!!! The only way forward is for Shabaab to renounce its violent thirst for absolute power, call off this ****** war and join the government.

Originally posted by bint hamid: shabaabs not the ones shelling all the residential areas and killing and injuring muslims who dont have anything to do with the fighting.. LOL what? What about the shells that landed on Martini? What about the suicide bombings? Are you gonna blame those on AMISOM as well?

Shariif signed the agreement that took Ethiopians OUT of Somalia. AMISOM was kept as a safeguard in case the former pals would turn against him (and so they did!). Shariif NEVER declared war on his former pals and invited them to share. What the new opposition did was use AMISOM as a pretext to attempt taking down the government. It's not that Shabaab was betrayed by Shariif, it's that Shabaab was (and is) jealous and wanted (and wants) a bigger piece of the pie. Shariif's piece, not the "friend" piece. And it's trying to take it by force. Of course, one day everyone will be dead and there won't be any pie anymore.

This thread isn't insulting to Islam. Shabaab 2009 and its cyber-backup are insulting to Islam.

Give me a boat, some boys, arms and a little money for victuals, and I'm moving to Puntland.

^lol for real