Nephthys, I am not saying that no one that steals anything in Hargeisa. But what I am saying is the absolute true facts on the ground which anyone can verify and see for himself/herself. This is not a "one time" made up story but something that anyone can verify at any time. A typical open market suuqa dahabka in Hargeisa center. There are also specialist stores for gold similar to Dubai's. Hargeisa money market - Suuqa Sariflaha

A Kenyan Aid worker who stayed in Hargeisa for a while posted this on his blog One of the first things that strucks new comers to Hargeisa is the peace and orderly of the city. But what really amazes them is when they stride through the city center and find all the expensive gold and diamonds which are displayed openly in the middle of the street. Huge piles of Cash some as high as 2m are displayed right next to where the car's tyres go in the road. But what really strucks them dumbfounded is when at mid-day, a city of around million people goes to the Duhur prayers and all that Cash and Gold and Diamonds are left as they are untouched unsecured and on the streets. And that is not only during the day but also equally at night it is true. Business people leave their businesses as they are at night, the only thing they do is to cover them with plastic blankets just incase it rains. Mutual Respect The call to prayer in Hargeisa leads to a mass exodus from the city's cafes, places of work and the market. Nothing remarkable there, but what is incredible is the law and order that prevails in the eerily empty city centre. Nobody feels the need to lock up their wares. The currency exchangers who I wrote about the other day leave their thick wodges of Somaliland Shillings piled high on their tables (admittedly any dollars and euro are most likely under lock and key), market vendors leave their stalls unattended while cafe owners leave their kitchens wide open. In Nairobi, in fact any other city I have ever travelled to, bricks of cash worth hundreds of dollars left unwatched would disappear in seconds. And in Hargeisa we are talking about a city where perhaps as many as 90% of men are unemployed, destitute and need of cash to buy the next bundle of khat. Why on earth doesn't someone run and grab? People can explain the sins of theft and quote from the koran until they are blue in the face, I still don't understand why desperate people here don't steal. More than anything else it is I admit rather a sorry indictment of western values and morals that I consider this display of mutual respect for one's property so remarkable.

Now that all the required equipment for the Voter registration system has arrived in the country. The ball is on the National Electoral Committee(NEC) court now. The upcoming elections is a very important and crusial one that requires a lot of patience and a lot of determination from all the stakeholders be it the NEC, the political parties or the general public at large. I have no doubts that the people will stand up to the task as they have always done peacefully and orderly but what I think is the loose canon in this case is the UDUB government. If the Udub government tries to temper the voter registration process or the election itself, that will have a potential to destablise the country. The people's patience is running very thin and they will no honour another delay or postponement of the elections no matter what.

^certainly, not Somalia's passport. And surely not any other foreign passport. So, you do the math. Hadaba soo dhawaynta uu maanta madaxweyne Rayaale uu kala kulmay xukumada dalka Ingriiska ayaa la odhan karaa waa soo dhawayntii ugu balaadhanayd ee uu abid ka helo dalka Ingriiska taasi oo ay maanta soo galbiyeen madax aad iyo aad u tiro badan oo British-ah iyaga oo ka soo dajiayay qaybta laga soo dajiyo madaxda caalmka ee booqashada ku timaada dalka Ingriiska iyada oo goobtaasi loo goglay ama dhigay qadiifada cas ee lagu soo dhaweeyo madaxda caalamka There is surely a real positive shift in the way UK and US among other western nations deal with SL.

Jigjiga is a very nice town. Cool andtemperate climate. I stayed once on my way to Addis Abeba and I loved the food served in one of the restruants. Baasto iyo suugo suqaar aad u macaan ayuu nooga soo tuuray. I heard Boss of Qaat Kaysar Afdiinle owner of 571 is building a 5 star hotel there.

Originally posted by Abwaan: lol...Suldaanka...what would he be when he denounces Somaliland and campaigns for Somaliweyn, like Jaamac Yare...Malaha waxaad ugu yeeri doontaan Siyaad Barre ayuu u shaqayn jirey oo askartiisii ayuu ka mid ahaa or ....? General Jama Mohamed Ghalib is surely like no other psuedo-Somaliweyn supporter. Unlike his other cousin, Buubaa, this is man who believes in Somaliweyn and not because of cheap politics but by conviction based on belief. And although our positions might be polars apart, I still respect Gen Ghalib for that particularly his current political affiliation as deputy chairman of the Somali Re-libaration Movement in Asmera. Coming back to your hypothetical question on M. S. Nur. Lets just say that, he too has been a consistent man right from the word "go". I have seen interviews of the man with foreign TV crews some dating back to early 1990s, and I have no doubts Salah Nur is not like "sidii Adoontii hadhuudhka ridiqday ridiqday halkii ugu danbaysay ka kacday..." if you knwo what I mean.

The problem in Southern Somalia is Warlordism. If the warlords are removed and sidelined from politics starting from Col. Yey right down to Mohamed Dheere. Then there is hope on the horizon. But so long that the warlords are given positions of leadership, the Ethiopians will not leave an inch and the place will be as rundown as ever. So in short, getting rid of the warlords is the key to stability and peace.

M. Salah Nur is one of the true Somaliland statesmen still around. Glad to see that he is very healthy and still in public service.

Originally posted by Norf 1: ^^Who is that? Jazaak Allahu khayran. Alxamdullilah all went very smoothly. Mom and baby are well and I haven't had any sleep (still can't sleep). Going back after her older sister comes back from school IA. She hasn't seen her yet. It is true ileen in ragguna ay la umulaan. Congratulations Duqa!

Oops... could the mods pls move this to the Politics forum. Ta.

As a first step in implementing the Memorandum, a number of Ethiopian experts in public finance management will be sent to Mogadishu to assist in these processes ..." week ending 29/Aug There is currently a team of experts from the Ministries of Foreign Affairs, Finance and Information, and the Federal Police, and the Revenue and Customs Authorities in Mogadishu" week ending 12/Sep

Appointing someone who is not regarded or seen as part of the Kismaio conflict to leadership position makes sense to me. Wish him all the best and success to bring about peace to that city.

It looks like Mujaahid Cabdirahman Aw Cali (Labatole) is making a big statement to the Kulmiye leadership. Check out the rock-star reception he was given by Borama residents. more pics

Good job!!! The sad thing is, the good news stays local but bad news goes around the globe fast.

Northerner, If one is to make an outlandish claim like the one made by "Mr. Me", he has to put forward a convincing prove. Mr. Me knows he is just helpless in providing anything of value to prove his claims, that is why he is "fishing" for others to chip in. Unfortunately, Mr. DulQarnayn's fake article did more damage than it helped. This is another of "Mr. Me" topics which was debunked and destroyed link Originally posted by AYOUB: Suldaan I'm fine Xamdulilah and thanx for asking. How's Ramadaan going down there? Ramadan is good. It is falled in Spring time here which means we are fasting less time than we used to do before. How is yours going?

^^You know what is really pathetic? being caught redhanded and trying to shamelessly defend it back. That is pathetic. Take it on the chin and move on sxb. PS I see you corrected the spelling mistake. Way to go. But it is too late, don't you think. Ayoup, Salaan sare cammo. How is life treating you thesedays?

DhulQarnayn, You are not the first person I busted on these forums. It is obvious to tell when you come across a dubious article, specialy one that is provided as a "prove". There are so many mistakes in that sentence. First it lacks coherence and is completely disjoined from the rest of the article. No professional journalist would repeat this long title "The country's vice-minister for transport and communications" twice within that span of text. Besides the obvious spelling mistake of the word "contingent" the over-explaination of the "reason" for "forces" is ludicrous to say the lease. The area in discussion is not known for "Somali Terrorism" either. Food for thought, dhulQarnayn. You tried to come in here for support but you leave with a bloodied nose.

^^You are busted my friend Not only did you try and manipulate the source of the original text by adding an additional fabricated sentence at the end. But you also made the big mistake of mis-spelling the word "contingent". This is the original source and its dated Jan 2000: ETHIOPIA-SOMALIA: Ethiopia using Somaliland port of Berbera Ethiopia's transport ministry has confirmed the port of Berbera in Somaliland has been successfully opened to Ethiopian traffic. A weekly Amharic newspaper 'Efoyta' quoted the country's vice-minister for transport and communications, Ayenew Bitewligne, as saying a total of 30,000 mt of relief food has so far been transported to Ethiopia via the port. Reuters reported that there Ethiopia also plans to use Port Sudan in future. Ayenew said Denmark was assisting efforts to renovate and upgrade the road from the Ethiopian border to Berbera. link .

Originally posted by dhulQarnayn: quote:Originally posted by me: I keep hearing information about Ethiopian troops that are stationed in a former Somali military base near Berbera. Can anyone confirm this? and if it's true why has it not received any publicity? I found this article in a weekly Amharic newspaper called Efoyta, where the xabasha admit their presence in Berbera. ETHIOPIA-SOMALIA: Ethiopia using Somaliland port of Berbera Ethiopia's transport ministry has confirmed the port of Berbera in Somaliland has been successfully opened to Ethiopian traffic. A weekly Amharic newspaper 'Efoyta' quoted the country's vice-minister for transport and communications, Ayenew Bitewligne, as saying a total of 30,000 mt of relief food has so far been transported to Ethiopia via the port. Reuters reported that there Ethiopia also plans to use Port Sudan in future. Ayenew said Denmark was assisting efforts to renovate and upgrade the road from the Ethiopian border to Berbera. The country's vice-minister for transport and communications also stated that a small contigent of Ethiopian defense forces have also been stationed near the port to protect the relief from the instability that may come from Somali terrorists. There you have it saaxiib, the confoundedly cretinous secessionist denial is baseless. dhulQarnayn :cool: Republic Of California ^^ Where is your source/link??

posted in the wrong thread.

I think this was long overdue. The UN and other international organisation need to tap into the local knowledge base before they seek outsiders. I think the government should enforce entry-visa refusal for outsiders unless the expertise is not available locally.

An Aussie Sports commentator recently made a remark about the Brits topping the Aussies in the medal tally. He said "While we Aussies work our @sses off these bloody Brits win all their medals while sitting on their butts". He was apparently refering to the fact that the Brits got most medals in the cycling, rowing and kayaking sports - all which require for on to sit on their butt.

Xabashi waa saqajaan miidhan. Siday Cabdilaahi Yusuf ugu dhirbaaxeen Villa Somaliya ayay Moxamed Dheerena naagtii ay ka kaxaysteen. Caku!!!

^Interesting title there. I would actually pick it up from the shelf and read it just for that title. What sort of a book is it btw? ma sheekaa. *Blessed, I see. So the two books are like a series?

^^ This Saylici guy's name popped up in the media in the last couple of months. Is he a new comer to the SL political arena?