Sun Sep 18, 2005 10:19 AM BST By William Maclean NAIROBI (Reuters) - A worsening political crisis threatens to plunge Somalia back into war and open a new era of humanitarian suffering, experts say. Trust collapsed between the two opposing wings of its divided government many months ago, triggering a mainly rhetorical struggle for power as both sides squabbled over where in the failed state their administration should be based. That development failed to stimulate a forceful international response, due to growing disarray among interested foreign powers over how to handle the Horn of Africa country. But recent events have taken emotions inside President Abdullahi Yusuf's government to new levels of acrimony, and foreign powers will find it hard to remain aloof if warlords start settling their disputes through armed force, Somalis say. Worried analysts point to movements of pro- and anti-Yusuf militias, a huge increase in arms imports, assassinations of high profile Somalis in Mogadishu, the failure of a disarmament project in the capital, and increased activity by militant Islamists seeking to exploit a deepening power vacuum. "The ill-will of the protagonists has brought our people to the brink of another bloody war," wrote elder statesman and former Prime Minister Abdirazak Haji Hussen in a paper circulated among Somalia analysts. "Recent militia movements in the central region and reportedly from Ethiopia, and in Mogadishu, are clear signals that something ominous is about to unfold. "I alert the world community to brace itself for another catastrophic humanitarian situation and a flood of refugees." THRIVING ON CONFLICT If the country tumbles deeper into anarchy, the only winners are likely to be warlords skilled at thriving on conflict and militant Islamists who have adroitly used the political crisis to carve out a bigger role in Mogadishu politics, experts say. The government has been recruiting fighters across the country in recent weeks in what looks to many like the prelude to an attack on bases held by some cabinet ministers critical of Yusuf, many of whom are based in Mogadishu. Yusuf, on good terms with regional power Ethiopia, said he would persuade rather than force his critics, who include some Mogadishu warlords and powerful businessmen, to cooperate. But critics say the attempt by Yusuf, 70, to build a force is consistent with his past as a provincial warlord who has never shown flair for the diplomatic deal-making needed to build alliances among Mogadishu's fractious clan militias. Ethiopia, Somalia's historic foe, denies giving Yusuf military help, but witnesses have reported Ethiopian officers helping train Yusuf's forces in several places in recent weeks. Yusuf's opponents -- warlords and Islamists -- have reacted by reorganizing their own militias to form a united front strong enough to deter what they see as Yusuf's bid to impose his rule. "Abdullahi Yusuf's militarist approach to reconciliation has produced an opportunistic solidarity among warlords in Mogadishu," said Somali analyst Abdi Ismail Samatar. Some dismiss the effort to create a common front as a marriage of convenience to defend lucrative businesses including ports, airports, checkpoints, drug smuggling and weapons trading. But so big are the spoils, the alliance could well last as long as it takes to rebuff any attack by Yusuf, experts say. Yusuf's opponents want him and his prime minister, Mohamed Ali Gedi, to come and govern from Mogadishu. But Yusuf, whose political base is north-central Somalia, is working temporarily from provincial towns as he feels the capital is too risky. Earlier this year the U.N. Security Council declared that any hostile military action by any party would be unacceptable. But no major foreign government has bothered to repeat that message consistently at a senior level, partly because there is no consensus on how to restore the peace process, experts say. "WATCHING PREPARATIONS FOR WAR" Italy, China and Ethiopia are seen as closely allied to Yusuf. Eritrea, and some Arab states, are seen as allied to the Mogadishu group. Other major powers want to hold back funding for the government until it can agree where it should be based. "It is incomprehensible that the international community is inattentively watching the two factions prepare for war," said Samatar. Somalia has been without a central government since warlords ousted former dictator Mohamed Siad Barre in 1991. Most of Somalia has since been carved up between rival militias and hundreds of thousands of people have died from famine and war. Any conflict would trigger yet more suffering, Somalis say. The Food Security Analysis Unit, a project of the European Union and U.S. government, predicts the lowest cereal harvest in a decade in southern Somalia this year thanks to poor rains. It said one million Somalis, including 377,000 displaced people, urgently needed food to stay alive. "The entire southern part of Somalia (is) on alert status due to unsolved tensions within the government and reports of military build-ups," it said. "If widespread combat were to ensue it would have a devastating effect on human lives and livelihoods." © Reuters 2005. All Rights Reserved.

President Bush writes a note to Condoleezza Rice during a Security Council meeting 'Excuse me Condi, can I go to the bathroom?' By Philippe Naughton, Times Online President Bush had a more pressing worry than terrorism or reforming the United Nations during a Security Counil meeting in New York yesterday - the leader of the world's only superpower wanted to go the loo. At one point during the Council's debate on international security and UN reform, Mr Bush picked up a pencil and wrote a short note to Condoleezza Rice, the Secretary of State. "I think I may need a bathroom break? Is this possible?" the note read. The photograph, taken by a Reuters photographer, was widely reposted and discussed on the internet - including a piece on the influential Drudge Report under the title "Bush Needs to Go Potty". Some 150 world leaders are in Manhattan for the meeting of the UN General Assembly, at which Mr Bush issued a call yesterday to "tear down the walls" betwen rich and poor nations. "We need to give the citizens of the poorest nations the same ability to access the world economy that the people of wealthy nations have, so they can offer their goods and talents on the world market," he said.

Ahmed a Swedish citizen and domiciled in Stockholm was dumped in Somalia 3 years ago by the same people he thought was his parents. Uppdrag gransknings (assignment perusal) reporter Kenny Adersjö tells the story about Ahmed’s inconsolable struggle to come home to Sweden again. For the Swedish speaking nomads “Uppdrag granskning visas ikväll klockan 20:00 på SVT1 så missa inte den" For the other nomads the film will be available on SVT channel’s website the day after, I’ll post a link for you. FYI the Documentry film is in Swedish. Trailer SVT1, tisdag kl. 20.00

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61 Somalis die at sea after being left adrift Reuters September 13, 2005 DJIBOUTI: At least 61 Somalis died after people-smugglers left them helpless for 20 days in a faulty boat during a crossing to Yemen. A Danish ship sailing nearby saw the stranded boat and managed to rescue 39 people, including a woman who gave birth at sea, and took them to Djibouti. "We were 100 when we left (the Somalia port of) Bosasso heading to Yemen but after three days we finished most of our food," said survivor Adan Roble yesterday. "We ate everything we could find, including sea shrubs but 61 of us died of hunger while others committed suicide by plunging into the sea." News of their ordeal followed the rescue by Italian authorities of 143 mostly Eritreans making the crossing from North Africa. At least 11 died in the crossing. Last week 45 Africans, mostly Somalis and Ethiopians, drowned when armed smugglers forced them overboard during a crossing to Yemen. The UN refugee agency has said increasing numbers of African migrants are likely to risk their lives sailing to Yemen in the coming months due to the start of calmer weather in the Gulf of Aden. During the 20-day ordeal, only the strongest and the most vulnerable survived. "We were forced to rob the women and other frail travellers of their little food in order to survive," said Mohamed Aw-Said. "But we all shared whatever we got with a woman who gave birth to a baby boy." Somalis fleeing violence in their homeland and Ethiopians in search of better economic prospects often attempt the 300km crossing to Yemen. Hundreds have drowned, often in overloaded and rickety vessels run by smugglers.

Originally posted by Yoonis: This people who are meeting in Baraawe which by the way is also occupied do not represent the "Jubboyinka" because they do not have the mendate of the local people which is essential for someone who wants to establish a federal state. How can a thief meet another thief in a occupied city, which does not belong to them, to discuss a proposal of how to legitimise the stolen goods and properties and to further discuss how they are going to share the looted properties with each other, isn't that a joke in itself. You’re all occupiers, you’ve either driven out the original settlers from their land or you pray on the defenceless and rule them with an iron fist. You’re just fighting over lands that isn’t your to have.

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Look at Chris Tucker and Mike Mayers after the "Bush doesn't care about black people" comment, totally clueless. Watch

Originally posted by qumane:

Originally posted by Johnny B: And What amout is suitable to be called a relief aid in your vocabulary , that could go a non-Muslim state ? or is it maybe just maybe the ppl of New Orleans are less worth the money of a Muslim state? An amount that fits with the country they reside in financial capacity, and I tell you American economic capacity is unlimited concurring this tragic event. Even a country with greater GDP then Kuwait such as Sweden didn’t even offer one million, the only thing they offered was a relief team which handles water sanitations and America has yet to accept the offer. Johnny isn’t that they are less worth the money, is just that don’t need that kind of amount when those tsunami victims are still in need of aid money which rich Arab states have yet to response with a reasonable aid.

HARGEISA, Somalia, Aug 30 (Reuters) - Prosecutors in the self-declared republic of Somaliland on Tuesday asked a regional court to sentence to death 10 people suspected of killing aid workers between 2002-2004. The 10 suspects were accused of killing award-winning Italian aid worker Annalena Tonelli in October 2003, a British teaching couple Richard Eyeington and his wife Enid in the same month, and a visiting Kenyan aid worker in March 2004. At the close of hearings, Somaliland's prosecutor-general Hussein Dhere said the penal code provided for the death penalty for the accused who he called terrorists. But defence lawyers urged the court to dismiss the prosecutor's stand, arguing it was against Islamic Sharia law to pass a death sentence on the defendants. "As the defendants have admitted to committing two of the crimes they are accused of, the court should be lenient in its judgment," said Mohamed Jama Abdi, one of the defence lawyers. The court has held over 20 hearings in which it received testimony from 33 witnesses from the prosecution and four from the defence. Judge Abdirahman Hayanhe said he would give his verdict on Sept. 25. The suspects are also accused of robbing a Somaliland businessman near the Ethiopian-Somaliland border and the attempted ambush of a World Food Programme vehicle in Hargeisa in 2002. Security was tight around the court with police manning all roads leading to the court. Only journalists and relatives of the defendants were allowed inside the court. Somaliland declared its independence from Somalia in 1991 and is a relatively stable enclave which held its first multi-party election in 2003. On Tuesday, the opposition Justice and Welfare Party kicked off campaigns for a parliamentary election scheduled for late September promising free primary education and health services

Somaliland Government to Sue Haatuf Newspaper Hargeysa, Somaliland, August 27, 2005 (SL Times) – The Somaliland government has decided to take the Somali daily newspaper “Haatuf†to court for “publishing false information†in connection with the government’s procurement of equipment for a public television station recently established by the government. Haatuf reported in its August 19, 2005 edition that the government paid “$380, 000 over the actual price†for the TV procurement project. According to Haatuf’s story, the contract for the provision and installation of the new TV station was awarded without bid to Mr. Mahmud Abdi Nasser who is married to the sister of Huda Barkhad, Somaliland’s first lady, allegedly for an amount of $450,000. However the government has, through its spokesman Abdillahi Mohamed Duale, Somaliland’s Information Minister, described the newspaper’s report as “false and a malicious attempt aimed at discrediting the government’s successful introduction of public television services as well as harming the reputation of the President’s family members through mudslinging." Minister Duale disclosed last Saturday that " the government has taken legal action against Haatuf to challenge the validity of its report in a court of law.†Mr. Duale said he “has already requested the Attorney General to take the necessary legal steps towards bringing the newspaper in front of the law.†Referring to previous press allegations that Mrs Huda Barkhad had bought a house in Cairo during her recent visit there, the Haatuf report also linked the first lady’s Egyptian trip to a shadowy business deal allowing a fleet of Egyptian fishing ships to operate off Somaliland’s Red Sea coast. According to Haatuf’s article, over 20 vessels operated non-stop day and night off the coast of Zaila to Lughaya without the slightest compliance with international rules and regulations for the protection of the environment and marine ecological system. The article also quoted Somaliland and Djiboutian fishermen complaining that the Egyptians were using internationally forbidden fishing gear and methods. As a result coral reef formations in the sea water have already sustained considerable damage. When the Haatuf story resurfaced in the Somaliland Times (August 20, 2005 edition), it drew a reaction from the minister of Fisheries, Mahmud Oday. At a press conference held on Monday, August 22, 2005, Mr. Oday described the Somaliland Times report on the Egyptian vessels’ fishing activities off the Somaliland coast as baseless. He also denied that the country’s first lady, Huda Barkhad, had anything to do with any fishing agreement. Despite their lengthy statements of denial, however neither Mr. Duale nor Mr. Oday presented any concrete information to discredit the allegations carried in both Haatuf and Somaliland Times. For instance, the minister of information failed to come up with figures pointing out how much the new TV station cost the government or who purchased it for the state and from where. The Somaliland Times can now confirm that Information Minister Duale was in contact with potential bidders for the supply of the TV equipment when he became aware that the procurement contract had already been granted. The procurement was funded from allocations in the budget of the information ministry without the knowledge of minister Duale. The budgetary allocation was originally earmarked for the purchase of a more powerful transmitter than the existing one at the government-run Radio Hargeysa. The idea to buy a TV station instead of expanding the transmission capacity of Radio Hargeysa came from Huda Barkhad. The President then asked his Finance Minister, Hussein Ali Duale, to find the money, which he did. Upon learning about what had happened, the Information Minister, Abdillahi Dualle, was so upset, he didn’t report to office for nearly 2 weeks. The Minister of Fisheries’ response to the Somaliland Times’ report was even less convincing. He avoided talking about the nature of relations between his ministry and the Egyptian fishing companies fishing in Somaliland waters. Nor did he mention the background and credentials of these companies. Mr. Oday also failed to make a specific denial on press reports that the first lady bought a house in Cairo, allegedly from resources obtained as a result of the fishing concession awarded to the Egyptians. Meanwhile, a Borama-based group calling itself “Almis Fishing Company†said on Thursday that they were going to sue the Somaliland Times for publishing false information about their fishing business. The group claimed that they were actually the ones fishing off the Somaliland coast in an area stretching from Lughaya to Zaila. However, the Somaliland Times has learned that the group serves as a local agent for the Egyptian trawlers. Members of the group have also links to Huda Barkhad. Haatuf publisher “Haatuf Media Network†has issued a statement saying that the legal basis for any legal action brought against them should be the Somaliland press law which was passed by the Parliament and signed by the president. The statement warned that the HMN will not accept any attempt by the government to resort to laws dating back to the colonial era or the post-colonial rule of Siyad Barre. "The government should understand that this [the government's case against Haatuf] is a civil case and not a criminal one,†the statement added. The HMN also said it was regrettable that the government decided to go to court even after Haatuf had published their denials. "The government should stick to the provisions of the press law,†HMN stressed.

ERA to Upgrade Jijiga-Togo Wuhalie Road to Link Berbera Port By ISSAYAS MEKURIA, FORTUNE STAFF WRITER Ethiopian Road Authority is under direct orders from the Ethiopian government to upgrade the 70Km dirt road stretching between Jijiga and Togo Wuchalie, to meet an asphalt highway across the border in Somaliland. The orders come as a result of the Ethiopian government’s decision to use the Berbera Port as an alternative sea outlet to the port at Djibouti, which has served as the country’s only port since the demise of Assab seven years ago. The Berbera port, located 964 Kms from Addis, remained unused after the Somali government collapsed in 1991, but recommenced operations in mid-2004 as a harbour for food aid, destined for Somaliland and Ethiopia. The port can only dock four large or six medium-sized ships and a monthly cargo of 110,000 metric tonnes. It is to be recalled that State Minister of Infrastructure, Haile Asegede, led an eight-person delegation, who visited Somaliland in May 2005. Amongst the delegates was the Minister of Revenue, Getachew Belay. Sources in ERA disclosed that the Ethiopian government’s decision to use the Berbera port was hampered by the deteriorated state of the gravel road connecting the country to the port, which was constructed more than forty years ago. The Authority has posted a tender for the design and construction of an asphalt highway, on June 13, 2005, and is already evaluating proposals, submitted by four international companies. According to our sources, these four companies are from India, South Africa, Ghana and the UK. ERA will complete its technical and financial evaluation of the proposals and commence the project in the coming eight months. Upon completion, the road will have sufficient capacity for 200 heavy trucks a day. Samson Wondimu, ERA’s public relations manager, told Fortune that 15 of the 70 Kms was highly damaged road and has already been upgraded. It opened for use as of July 2005. Addisfortune

These guys currently reside in Sweden and I’ve only seen 2-3 video of them on Tvsl in Stockholm. They seem to have few singles out to my knowledge but not in any stores I might add. You can try to email Tvsl and ask them for the other videos they might just have it. good luck.

Hargeysa, Somaliland, August 27, 2005 (SL Times) – The Hargeysa Regional Court Thursday declined a government request for issuance of a warrant to search the offices of Haatuf Media Network in Hargeysa. The HMN publishes 3 newspapers: the Somali language daily “Haatufâ€; the Arabic weekly Al-Haatef and this newspaper. The Somaliland government announced earlier this week that it was going to sue Haatuf for false information. The announcement came after the newspaper published allegations of corruption and nepotism in connection with the procurement of television equipment. There was no information as to why the government wanted to search HMN offices. It was also unclear whether the government would appeal the regional court’s decision denying the search warrant. Meanwhile, the government-owned media continued its attacks on Haatuf and the Somaliland Times through most of the week. But the government campaign has so far been counterproductive, instead of triggering sympathy for the government, it resulted in tremendous public support for the two sister newspapers.

The United Nations Independent Expert on human rights for Somaliland and Somalia has disclosed that there were funds now available for the construction of a totally new prison in Hargeysa. Ghanim Al Najjar who is in the country since Wednesday said that the Somaliland government has already promised to make the necessary plot of land available for the construction of Hargeysa's new central prison. The new prison facility is to replace the existing one which has been over-congested and without basic utilities and services over the years. Al Najjar described the state of the prison as on the border of a real humanitarian tragedy. Ghanim Al Najjar who was appointed by Kofi Anan in 2001, has taken upon himself to secure funds for the establishment of a new Hargeysa prison. Green light will be given for the project once a site has been assigned he said. The international expert on human rights for Somaliland and Somalia arrived in Hargeysa on Wednesday on a four-day visit. His mission is to look into a variety of issues ranging from human rights, including the rights of women and children, to the administration of justice as well as the state of minorities. He will be expected to meet government officials, human rights activists and political as well as civic leaders. On Thursday, Dr Ghanim Al Najjar met with leaders of the Somaliland Society for Independent Journalists and Writers (SSJW) and the Somaliland Journalists Association (SOLJA) to discuss issues related to freedom of expression. The UN expert is also expected to follow up an earlier offer to mediate exchange of prisoners of war between Somaliland and Puntland. Source: The Somaliland Times, Hargeysa, in English 27 Aug 05

Originally posted by Fidel: Qudhac , that's not necessary dude, come on! The people in Arab countries have no say in what the Arab league does. Don't be a jingoist. They don’t have any say on anything period! Let alone to talk about some unrecognized african country. Fidel what’s wrong with being a jingoist? Those kind of people assuming Qudhac being one of them are the likes who’ll be first to take arms and defend our country against anyone threatening our freedom. I’m however surprised that you find it to be wrong when you constantly praise Fidel Castro whom himself is an extreme nationalist character.

Thank you brother/sister Fyrkanten for posting it! its bro! and your welcome! I was just joking LOL I know he won't get that info unless i tell him.Thanx FK If someone really was after your credit card it wouldn’t be to hard to get it without your knowledge. If you continue with this kind of attitude you’re bound to get ripped by someone. Don’t ever think your save when your logged online my friend, their is no limit as to what damage someone can inflect upon you on the net.

1.Type "about:config" into the address bar and hit return. Scroll down and look for the following entries: network.http.pipelining network.http.proxy.pipelining network.http.pipelining.maxrequests Normally the browser will make one request to a web page at a time. When you enable pipelining it will make several at once, which really speeds up page loading. 2. Alter the entries as follows: Set "network.http.pipelining" to "true" Set "network.http.proxy.pipelining" to "true" Set "network.http.pipelining.maxrequests" to some number like 30. This means it will make 30 requests at once. 3. Lastly right-click anywhere and select New-> Integer. Name it "nglayout.initialpaint.delay" and set its value to "0". This value is the amount of time the browser waits before it acts on information it receives. If you're using a broadband connection you'll load pages MUCH faster now!

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These past days I've been taking few minutes off to look at our nightly sky which I don’t frequently do because of the weather. But the view has been overwhelming these past nights added with full moon and endless stars to look at. Just last night I noticed a bright object in the night sky and at first I thought it was venus after gazing further I noticed it was too bright to be venus. When I continued to search the skies for other bright objects I found venus which continued to baffle me until next day. It wasn’t until I read your post that I knew what that bright object was, so thanks 7 0f Nine for the info.

Basij Students Demand to Take Over British Embassy in Tehran

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