A bit of history, back in 2005, Somaliland and Puntland exchanged POWs near Abeesalay which falls between Oog and Laas Caanood. Today, POWs are being exchanged near God Qaboobe which is between Tukaraq and Garowe.

@galbeedi As usual, you base your analysis on your wishful thinking. But the reality on the ground is complete opposite. In fact, I am not too sure if your 'source told me' outsiders have any knowledge but the UN Security Council will appoint a new SRSG in the next month or so. One of the key mandates for the new SRSG is to finalise the issue between Somaliland and Somalia. In his recent speech, President MBC mentioned that the IC have come to the realisation that Somalia and Somaliland issue needs to be finalised. Equally the UN Security Council recently mentioned that Somalia's Constitution Review is stuck because of the issue between Hargeisa and Mogadishu. In the next few months, there is going to be a lot of movement regarding the finalisation of Somalia and Somaliland issue.

The TPLF is still exercising huge influence in terms of economy and military. I was surprised when the Tigray regional administration overturned Abiye's call to withdraw Armed forces from the border. The heavily mechanised divisions were barred from leaving their stations by the regional president. I think that alone was a turning point for Afwerki who thought that Abiye will help him subdue and submit the TPLF on his behalf. One of the key Amhara demands that is currently causing lots of headache of Abiye is the Constitutional Article 39 which talks about the 'self determination' of regional state. The Amhara want to remove this article from the constitution but the TPLF are save guarding it. It will be very interesting how this constitutional battle unfolds in the near future.

Qubanaha Maanta, May 26, 2019 WWW.VOASOMALI.COM English news from the Voice of America. VOA news provides coverage from around the world and learning English lessons from VOA Special English. https://av.voanews.com/Videoroot/Pangeavideo/2019/05/3/3e/3e0b827f-5d79-45e2-a743-bc1fbb07b23b_mobile.mp4?download=1

Congratulations to Magid.

Britain's coolest mayor is now Europe's coolest MEP METRO.CO.UK He branded Donald Trump a ‘wasteman’ and banned him from his city.

By the way @Old_Observer, Abiye Ahmed didn't attend Eritrea's Indepedence day which was on the 24th of May. Has the relationship cooled this much? What is the impact on the much touted 2 party agreement (Cheeseman was a formalation never a partner). Did the wheels come off so early? [Caption: Cheeseman oo lagu dul shaxaayo...] Nimanyahow awow iyo awow iyo abkaan sheegto Iyo aniga abidkay ma arag iibsi lacageede. Albaabkii Burcaan imid anoo aaladii sida’e Amminkiiba la yimid sidii eegta lay yahaye. Amakaagay goortay wankii adhaxda tuujeene Intaa weeye iyo ma’ahadii la is ilaaqaayey Ismaciil Mire's first encounter in Burco's livestock trading market

The Guulwade were school drop outs and kids born out of wedlock (Ubaxii Kacaanka). The Shaqo-Qaran program is modelled after Israel's National Service. The aim is to create nationalistic civil servants that have the work ethic of a soldier and discharge their duties based on national needs and not clan needs. They are educated and all have University degrees in many different fields. Claiming Mount Everest starts with a single step, this is the first step towards a more clan-blind Somaliland.

Che, Nation states as we know them today are creations of Foreign powers. So, which ever way your slice it or dice it, you cannot escape the facts about how they came about and their historic background. Having said that, the keyword that one needs to keep in mind is 'soveriegn rights' of foreign powers towards their foreign possessions. With regards to Italy, it was a long held goal and plan to create one Pan-Italiana East Africa which included Ethiopia, Somalia and Eritrea, since the early days of Empror Menelik. That came true when the facist Benito invaded and defeated the Ethiopian Empror. For few years, Italy held the soveriegn rights of Ethiopia, Somalia and Eritrea. Whereas with regards to the 1940 invasion of Italy in Somaliland, even after occupation, they never enjoyed sovereign rights over Somaliland. It was regarded by the world powers at the time as an occupation. The Ethiopians are masters in 'slowly but surely' train of thought. What began in 1994-97 as fighting Al-Itihad-Al-Islamiya group, is now morphed itself as the welcomed peace enforcers of South Somalia. The Ethiopian army now has permanent military installations in every region of Southern regions of Somalia including Jubada Hoose. The ground work is there, but the fools from South Somalia are preoccupied with Somaliland. It all makes sense that Cheeseman sold out to Ethiopia 4 ports, and Ethiopia building a navy. The French President's recent tour of Addis Abeba and Nairobi re-enforced this. In fact, he said that, Francce/EU will help Ethiopia and Kenya create their 'best scenario' for Somalia. I won't be suprised that they will lose the Sea to Kenya, parts of South Somalia to Ethiopia (Bay & Bakool clan). And to add insults to bad situation, Somaliland gains its indepdence.

Khariidad ay Itoobiya daabacday, oo Soomaaliya aysan ku jirin WWW.BBC.COM Fikradda mideynta Soomaaliya iyo Itoobiya ma aha mid iminka billaabatay

This Map is historically accurate. There was a time that Somalia didn't exist on the Maps of Africa, and it was ruled from Addis Abeba by Italy. This was in the 1930s. This Map also shows the original countries that existed in Africa back in 1930s, including Somaliland.

Saalaxo has a history of counting his chickens too early. He is still dumbfounded how Col. Caare was checkmated.

Just watch and learn son. The sharks are circling...

How tables have turned so quickly.

By Guled Hagi Hersi In the annals of foreign policy, there are few orthodoxies that most countries adhere to: a) the status quo is better than rocking the boat; b) never punch above your weight; c) always err on the side of caution and trade is your religion and nationality. In Somalia, President Mohamed Abdullahi Farmaajo has violated all tenets of foreign policy. Remotely controlled by Qatar, a tiny sheikhdom in the Gulf isolated by its Arab neighbors for its tantrums, Farmaajo has opted in favor of petrodollars over pragmatic foreign policy. As a result, Somalia and Qatar are now partners in isolation. They are both loathed by their immediate neighbors for consistently punching above their weight, attempting to reorient established orthodoxies and stirring up trouble. In the latest episode, it was Kenya that moved to tighten the noose around Farmaajo. Although Kenya’s move is counterproductive and comes across as a collective punishment, it was Farmaajo who goaded Kenya to act irrationally. What led to this gigantic failure in foreign policy is a combination of pure personal interest and a devastating lack of capacity. First on the personal interest front: The Farmaajo Administration, which is comprised of a three-men cabal, has made a decision to align Somalia with Qatar in the Gulf crisis. This was largely done to appease Fahad Yasin, the notoriously reclusive “owner” of the Farmaajo Administration. At his behest, President Farmaajo pivoted Somalia away from its traditional allies, such as Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) and the United Arab Emirates (UAE), which happens to be the largest trading partner with Somalia. The UN Monitoring Group and several other sources have now confirmed that Mr. Yasin, who’s nominally the head of the National Intelligence and Security Agency (NISA), receives several million dollars a month delivered in cold cash, a largesse used to buy off the parliament, silence critics and, above all, deputize prominent people like Amin Amir, once a celebrated cartoonist who is now reduced to a mouth of Farmaajo. The second motivation is the ubiquitous lack of capacity within the administration. Neither the standoffish Farmaajo, nor his flamboyant PM, Hassan Ali Khaire, have had sufficient expertise in the delicate affairs of foreign policy. They rely on the guts of their common master, Mr. Fahad Yasin, who is widely recognized as a Qatari mole in Somalia. Implications of isolation The upshot of the isolation Somalia finds itself today is the humiliation of ministers, and lawmakers at Nairobi’s airport a few days ago, where they were denied entry, after Kenya abruptly rescinded a longstanding policy to grant an on-arrival visa to senior Somali government officials. (It’s notably comical that the Planning Minister Jamal Hassan and National Security Advisor, Abdi Said, have flashed their Canadian and Dutch passports past immigration, leaving their colleagues detained at Nairobi airport). Somalia is also unloved by the Arab world’s three leading powers: Saudi Arabia, Egypt and UAE, the trio that also isolated Qatar. Their primary concern is Farmaajo Administration’s desire to reorient the Somali people from their traditional and historic alliance with these three countries, and the attempt to align them with Qatar whose native population is smaller than that of a midsize Somali tribe. Taken together, Saudi Arabia, Egypt and UAE represent over a third of the Arab world, and well over half of its wealth and intellectual firepower. Instead, President Farmaajo is choosing a country you can hardly spot on the map, and which has had no historical ties with Somalia. In fact, Fahad Yasin might be the first Somali to have a meaningful relationship with Qatar—an assertion supported by the fact that he installed his brother in-law, Abdirizak Farah Taano, as Somalia’s Ambassador to Qatar, and his cousin Abdihakim as Deputy Head of Mission. In sum, the relationship between Qatar and Somalia is not codified by normative Vienna Conventions, but by the subventions that Qatar gives to Fahad who then uses those funds to reorient a nation’s national interest. In addition to Qatar, President Farmaajo is trying hard to refashion Somalia’s historic ties with Djibouti in favor of Ethiopia, which he spent years railing against when he was a candidate. Barely six months into this term, he renditioned Abdulkarinm Qalbi-Dhagax to Ethiopia on bogus terrorism charges. That was well before the current changes swept Ethiopia. The intent was to gesture to the TPLF. His administration is earnestly trying to label Djibouti a hostile nation, while embracing Eritrea, effectively the North Korea of Africa. Kenya is also molded into the enemies list of the Farmaajo Administration, ignoring the historic relationship between the two countries. The so-called “economic integration of the Horn of Africa” remains largely unexplained and a ploy to reciprocate dictatorial capacity with Eritrea and Ethiopia. Furthermore, it was a ruse to isolate Djibouti and elbow Kenya out of the Horn of Africa orbit. All of this resulted in the isolation of Somalia, a country reeling from decades of conflict. Today, Somalis lack friends in its immediate neighborhood (save for the hapless Abiy Ahmed who doesn’t even control the Tigray region) and across the Gulf of Aden among its traditional Arab allies. President Farmaajo’s siege mentality and aloof posture also left him isolated in his own country, following the failure of the recent Garowe conference, after which he threw insults at leaders of regional states. The more one listens to Farmaajo, the more he sounds like the famous “Comical Ali”, the former Iraqi information minister who boasted about an impending victory while the Americans were a block away. He did not only isolate Somalia, but he also isolated himself along the way. Guled Hagi Hersi Email:guledhhersi@gmail.com

Something is cooking....

Carmaale ayaa laga soo eryay oo baxsad isago ah Damalla Xagare soo galay. Isagoo fadhiisan ayaa hadana lagaga dabo yimid.

This letter belongs to the history's 'hall of shame'. Waliba waxay ku calaacaleen "Inaan idin kala hadalno, dhibaatada aad nagu haysaan idinka oo xushmad iyo qadarinba naga mudan". Tano kale. It is beyond sad.