Sir Q thanks for your kind words will keep you all in the loop... Soph...whatsup haji? am here, in kabul with the UN left IA last year... what u doing ? which hussien did u you see?

I would love to transfer but no now...if i see something, interesting may apply.. Sri Lanka is good, very good nothing to worry there..the war is limited in north

maybe you will get another chance

p.s your name and the rest is safe with me...your location need not be secret unless your up to something dodgy

A&T, what are you doing in Mugabe land... i am sure it was peacefull prior to your arrival...thanks for the email

thanks bro...

Hey... i have briefly met Adnan he is with Ocha i think i am with UNDP... we spoke briefly on the phone...he seems like a solid guy... i am getting all the somalis together this friday do you have his email.. if so pls send it to my inbox

Week 3&4 Random thoughts My first Bombs The first major attack since my arrival took place this week. Ministries were attacked and many lives lost (all mostly poor afghans). I was at the Parliament when the attack started and we all had to be evacuated from the building. There was a real fog of war, no one seemed to know where the attack was taking place and many feared the Parliament would be next… I felt sad, angry and wee scared. The thing about this kind of bombings is that one never thinks it will happen to them until it does., complacency and a sense of false security is one’s undoing here, I always try my best to control any breach of complacency. Local people hardly filch about the bombings they’re sadly used to this kind of thing, decades of senseless conflict and death toughens you up I suppose. Mohamed is cool.. Because of the security situation our interaction with Afghans is severely limited, with our movements restricted to security cleared places. One of the few places we can freely interact with Afghans is at work, where I can categorically testify that this one of the few places I have lived that is SUPER COOL to be called Mohamed. For so long, I have had to put up with suspicious looks from the western immigration and custom officials, who either think I am about to blow something, declare asylum or smuggle drugs, so its good to be in a place where once you utter your name you get hugs, a cup of tea and biscuits while my “infidel” colleagues only get handshake … Standing out When I’m working in West Africa I am always thought of as a Fula (one of the large West African tribes) so I don’t stand-out in a crowd. This is my first venture to a place were I am truly noticeable as black folks here are rare. The Wazungu can grow a beard and cover-up so to not stand out too much, but being black, you can’t hide your foreignness. At least I now I know what Wazungus must feel in Africa… Black folks are so rare that when we run into each other we are magnetically move towards each other and exchange notes… Talking about Black people, few days ago I walked into a coffee house on the outskirts of Kabul, and was greeted by a very unusual scene – a black dude sitting in a table surrounded by Afghan women (no it wasn’t P Diddy). What made it so particularly surprising is that once you land here you are warned by everyone not to even look at Afghan women let alone sit next to them and chat – it would be an act of suicide. The Afghans would cut off your head and make soup out of it! (in my case a spicy Somali stew, I always thought I would make nice dish… ). Ok I am exaggerating, but let’s just say you will be asking for a lot of trouble. Naturally I was thinking what this guy is doing with all those Afghan women. I approached tentatively not wanting to be collateral in what the soup makers have in store for him. “I am Tayo from Nigeria” he says - I asked him what he was doing in Kabul, but what I really wanted to ask was - what hell are you playing at man you want to die?? He continued to explain that he runs a company that trains women NGO’s on blah blah and that he also does Monitoring and Evaluation and everything else that needed to be done… Because he is from Lagos I was not surprised about the diversity of services this single man delivers (or at least claims to). He has been here for few years and his company is doing well. Wow, I thought he must have seriously enlarged cahones, or simply be a Nigerian, to come to this place and seek business opportunities. For those of us who are passionate about Africa’s development and want to see a prosperous continent in our lifetime, men like Tayo give us hope. His story is a confirmation of the entrepreneur zeal that is present in Africa and only needs careful management to transform the continent. I was awed by his brazenness to life, he is officially my HERO. I could imagine him saying, Taliban, Nato, and bombs don’t scare me I am from Lagos man! Women in Afghanistan A friend of mine recently emailed me to ask, “what is it to be a woman in Afghanistan” I have to admit I know little about what is it to be a woman anywhere… I am trying really hard not to rush to any judgment on an issue I know so little about, especially when I hardly get the chance to chat to any of them. But, because I am human I cannot help but be influenced by what I hear, allow me to regurgitate what informed people here say “womanhood here needs a lot of work”… Although tentative evidence does exist to back this assessment I can’t say for sure… Finally my R&R is approaching in the next few days I can’t wait to go and see my loved ones and get a deserved break from lighting wood…

Abu-- with due respect you been ridicules... and factually wrong 1.. i dont believe Amison fires at civilians for fun... that is just plain paranoia 2.. The UPDF (ugandan army) is not the LRA... LRA are the ones raping and chopping people, and i as far as i know no LRA soldier is in Somalia unless off course you have information we don’t! 3.. Somali groups are babaric, no debate there, you tell me one group that is not? 4. Finally i have noticed for second time you avoided my question,.,, what reponsibility do put on those who attack Amison then hide behind civilians? Ugandans have bleed to for us, by the way also contributing from their defence budget on top of the aid they get from the west, to open wells, and port so that WFP can bring food to starving Somalis, the best could do is thanks them...

Abu...let me get this straight, you're saying Amison come so that they could kill, occupy us? This kind of conspiracy theories bizarre man! I am not going to get in a debate on history of Uganda, bro I have worked and lived in Uganda... Uganda is host nation to thousands of Somali refugees running from yep you guessed from religious lunatics and parasitic warlords..... Please don’t begin Somalia’s history from a convenient time to suit your narrative of victimhood... it’s always the foreigners right? Finally I am not in anyway in support of the death of even my enemy... Killing as tool for political discourse is barbaric in the 21st century! Amison i said should be careful and the deaths should be investigated... Now tell me, who should we hold responsible for the cowardly act of shooting at Amison then hiding behind civilians? I am waiting...

We Somalis need to stop opposing everything... we always look for reasons to disagree, never pleased always complaining... Pirate i see you still looking for more blood to soak our land... Please I urge us to refrain from figure pointing and blaming other for a MADE IN SOMALIA conflict... we were happily killing and raping our own before the Ethiopians and Amison come... STOP this madness and engage in constructive discourse,. it will take a work from out new president and AMISON will go... they r not our problem... with all there mistakes AMISON is there to help us..and many poor women in Uganda have lost a sons killed by barbaric grave diggers called Al shababe!!! Somalia’s enemy is us the sooner we realise it better for all of us!

Because they are the most backward of the lot!!! and i am from mogadishu before i am accused of u know what

I work in Afghanistan, i have seen Al'shababe like rule, believe me you wont to live under such interpretation of Islam... it's backward looking, anti-science and medieval!!! Dear brother don’t be fooled by religious zealots… they have no solution to poverty and underdevelopment…

Why are we not also blaming the cowards that attack Amison then hide behind civilians? come on people lets stop this FALSE OUTRAGE, Somalis have killed more Somalis than a foreigner would ever. It is sad that civilians have died, Amison should be careful in the future. Surely we also need to condemn the so called ‘freedom fighters’ that are happy to hide behind the civilian and show no regard for their safety!!! With all their mistakes AMISON is not there to invade Somali or rule us… it’s there to save us from ourselves… These young Africans have come from far away risk their lives for a better Somalia, and you armchair commentators are happy to condemn them… Ask yourself what have you lately done for your country??? Amison soldiers have DIED for Somalia. The least we can do is thank them, and ask them to be careful in responding to immense provocation by barbaric killers!!!!

I wonder why Somali society fails to produce moderate leaders?... the so-called islamists, are the most dangerous kind our society has produced... Did one see the grave demolitions? What happened to moderation and co-existence something Somalis of the past were known for? ... I am deeply disturbed by this lot even more than the sick warlords...

That is what happens when a nation is taken over by illiterate savages be it warloards or so called Islamist who spend their spare time demolition grave yards of the dead!!! What intolerant and misguided lot!

not another peace process...am tired people, and really tired...what is wrong with US!!!!

not another PEACE PROCESS...

Dear Oodweyne. I think we are on the same page except that you’re conceptualisation of elite interest and need for binding glue is were we depart wee bit. Allow me to start with latter… there is natural binding glue that perpetually holds elites together, RENT seeking… Elite formation is based on the need to limit the access to rent seeking opportunities… what binds then forever is the need grow the rent while limiting the access… this glue does exist within the Somali elites. Before I address what makes the Somali glue weak, let me address my first point. Elites everywhere are not primarily motivated by common good but by elite good… They utilise nationalism, racism, clanism and all the ISMs for a single purpose to maximise rents… I am not depressed by the their greedy nature, like capitalism greed is not always bad.. A businessman starts enterprise not to employ people and pay salaries but to make profit for themselves and collaterally pays for the life style of his employees and theirs families. The history of European elite systems was no different the King and court wanted to maximise rent and manipulated the economy for that purpose. But by accident created efficient institutions like tax collection , the police etc to ensure peaceful thievery… they also had interest for private enterprise to succeeded so that they can collect more taxes… a positive greed elite system requires certain level of stability and trust within the elites.. Somali elite system has collapsed to the extent that the elites have decided war ( a last option for many elites as tool for solving disputes) to be the first resort in dispute resolution… Here is good part I believe we have an opportunity, with the ageing of our current elites, a new generation of elites who have grown outside Somalia have the opportunity to create a stable system whereby war is seen as a last resort to solving disputes…

Oodweyne Thanks for well written and coherent albeit depressing analysis of our predicament as you see it. However I don’t believe in monolithic clan interest as such because that assumes a) the clan in power can rule on behalf or the interest/benefit of its kin,.. this is just impractical,.. if the struggle for power is a means for controlling the resources of states then there just not enough out there for entire clan…The resources merger to go around… b) Second it also assumes that there is a central community so competent and structured to define a specific clan interest… c) And that there is designated singular voice that speaks for a specific clan or group… Recent history has shown any group that signs any contract or peace agreements returns home only to find out that his lot has defragmented disproves this assumption… My humble analysis is that Somali elite system is where tumour is located. Our crisis is fundamentally one of elite distrust and little to do with most of us… Most Somalis are mere followers of a weak elite system that suffers from any form of stability necessary for governing. The elites need to get their act together and sort out their disagreements and stop driving us to one road to the abyss. The people who come to SOL changing their stands/enemy/friend, according to what their elites decide a proving point of the power of elites…

What do we really want? I have worked and travelled widely and never have I come across people with such a promise, a promise to unleash our natural intelligence, curiosity and entrepreneurship for the progress of our people and Africa at large. But neither have I come across more destructive, more paranoid, parochial, hating, illogical and sadly petty as my people. So what do Somalis want? I suppose I am looking for insight on whether we at least agree on end goal. We obviously disagree on the paths to success as shown in our murderous rage, but do we at least agree on the END GOAL, if we do then we have a hope….. Unending war is madness even Somalis cannot accept it perpetually… Let the intelligent debate commence

Barbarian at the gate.. No side has an ounce of legitimacy... i really don’t know what they are fighting for? apart from maiming and killing Somalis women, and children…. We truly suffer from Poverty of vision and leadership, spiced with a culture in crises….

Onlf....are arguably the only legitimate armed groups in the Somali world... I sympathise with their struggle... the rest of Somali warring groups are bunch of clanist, destructive, visionless, barbaric, illiterate, excuse for human beings…

is that a question?

unknow1 I hope your like goes no where near power. You’re scarier than the ones we have now...you may succeed in making the Taliban look like moderates!