Nairobi mystery deepens Aid workers hit wall of silence around woman's baffling detention in Kenya A human-rights organization wishing to help free a Toronto woman in Africa stepped into her Kafkaesque nightmare yesterday. A case worker for German-founded Ecoterra International, in the Kenyan capital of Nairobi, spent five hours phoning the Canadian High Commission, and nobody called him back. "We might be able to shed some light and help the lady," a more senior Ecoterra officer, Aina Seering, had written the Star optimistically the day before. "(We have) established links with the Kenyan authorities as well as the Canadian High Commission over many years." But so far the assigned worker has merely glimpsed the surreal world of unstated charges, confiscated passports and faceless bureaucracy that has become all too familiar to the woman insisting she is Suaad Hagi Mohamud of Toronto. "(The worker) was complaining to me, `They don't want to answer,'" the woman said by cellphone from a Nairobi hotel. "Me too – I'm still waiting and nobody calls me." One week has passed since the Canadian High Commission – at the woman's insistence – took fingerprints to settle her identity after her passport was questioned by Kenyan police. Since then, nothing. No results, no explanation of the delay, no returned calls. In Toronto, dozens of people vouch for her. She works the overnight shift as a mid-level supervisor at ATS courier in Etobicoke. Colleagues speak of her affectionately, keep in touch by phone and sometimes send money – $1,100 in the case of one colleague who asked not to be named. Twelve-year-old son Mohamed Asbscir speaks to her every few days, as does neighbour and babysitter Shukri Abdi. There is no mistaking the woman, say her many friends, some who have known her from childhood in Somalia. "We went to the same school," neighbour Fartun Mohamed said this week. "I was friends with her older sisters, Luul and Markaba. I know all the family." Mohamud, 31, left Toronto on April 29 to visit her mother. She was ready to return May 17 when she says a Kenyan officer stopped her for not looking like her four-year-old passport photo. "Kenya's police force is known to be the most corrupt of Kenya's public institutions," a Human Rights Watch report in February. When dealing with Kenyan police, Transparency International reported in 2008, the chance of being asked for a bribe is 93 per cent. Mohamud did not offer a bribe. She spent eight days in jail and was released on bail with no travel papers. Kenyan officials sent her passport to Canadian consular officials, who labelled her an "imposter," voided the passport and sent it back to the Kenyans for prosecution. She faces court next week. Why Canada does not repatriate the woman and charge her with a passport offence remains unknown. "The first order of business is to get verification of those (finger)prints," federal Liberal critic Dan McTeague said yesterday. The process should take "a lot quicker" than a week. In Nairobi, the woman maintains her poise. "I'm lonely," she said yesterday. "I'm scared," she had said the day before. But she answers her phone, keeps appointments and always ends a call with this wish: "Have a great day." A week of phone calls to government offices yielded one enigmatic riddle from Patrizia Giolti of the Canada Border Services Agency. "The information you have received is not consistent with that provided by the person we have interviewed," she wrote by email. Asked over voice mail yesterday if the agency still holds that position, Giolti did not reply. Xigasho ______________ Poor sister, she suffered more than loo dulqaadan karo maskiintaan.

Laakiin the Dhalinta you do support did this to him: Somali rebels fire mortars near U.S. politician MOGADISHU, April 13 (Reuters) - Militant Islamist insurgents fired mortars toward U.S. congressman Donald Payne as he left Somalia on Monday after a rare visit by a U.S. politician to the anarchic Horn of Africa nation. The attack came a day after U.S. forces killed three pirates in an assault off Somalia that freed an American hostage. The al Shabaab insurgents, whom Washington accuses of being al Qaeda's proxy in Somalia, claimed responsibility for the mortar attack, saying it was a message to the United States. "We fired on the airport to target the so-called democratic congressman sent by (U.S. President Barack) Obama," Sheikh Hussein Ali, a spokesman for al Shabaab, told Reuters. "Let him go back with the message of our strength and enmity towards the U.S and its allies. No single group can claim control of Mogadishu, and al Shabaab will continue its attacks." Payne was unharmed. Somalia's capital Mogadishu is one of the world's most dangerous places. U.S. officials and politicians have shunned travel to the battle-scarred city due to constant violence. Somali Internal Security Minister Omar Hashi Aden told Reuters that Payne's plane was just airborne when the mortars fell. A police officer, however, said one mortar struck the airport before Payne left and five others impacted after. Residents said insurgents and African Union (AU) peacekeepers exchanged fire after the attack, killing three civilians and wounding 12 other people near a market. Ahmed, a local mechanic, said mortars came into the area where the insurgents had fired from. "I cannot make out if those injured ones are the civilians or the ones who fired," he said. Payne spoke with the interim government's president and prime minister during the short visit. He brought six bodyguards with him, and AU soldiers provided extra security.

Bacyadaas ma'aha miyaa kuwii xirada qaxootiga Otaanga lagaa soo siiye markaa soo baxeysay, UNHCR ku qorneyd. Haye, haye, haddana anaga maa nagu cabee?

Acuudu iga dheh. Xirtaan Ururka Islaamka kuwa la baxay ka socdaan, Shabaab ma'aha aan filaa. Suu bareelo ciyoow u noqday igu daran. Bahasha kululaa. Minankiisa hadduu iska joogi lahaa waxaan ma dhaceen. Saa horey u iri hadduu noolyahayba by now meel ayaa lagu tuuray, makeshift isbitaal probably, kuna ildaranyahay, alone, kana shaleynooyo.

Buuxooy, I guess I should've written: Inta ayee degantahay. Waa soo gaabiye, 'intee degantahay' u qoray, which loo micneysan karo 'where does she live.' Reer Koronto waaye, saas u lahaa inaa la kulmo fiicnaan lahayd..

I've come across these images years ago on JSTOR website. (You need to have an account to access.) The images waxee la socdeen an article that was published in 1913, dealing about Soomaalis, Oromos and Booni people. "Raw Soomaali," my gadaal. Waxaaba usii daran kii shisheeyaha ahaa dhar wada cad isku taagay, Soomaalidiina u giliye dhar madoow oo qaab lahayn. More interesting is that when he landed on the land, Soomaali go'yaal wada cad oo dhalaalaayo gishnaayeen.

Leg-cutting funeral home to close A judge in the US state of South Carolina has ordered the closure of a funeral home where an employee cut off the legs of a 6ft 7in (2m) body. The worker used an electric saw to sever James Hines's legs at the calf to make his body fit the coffin in 2004. The owner had contested the revocation of his licence, saying he was absent when the incident happened and pointing to an otherwise unblemished record. But after a brief hearing, the judge confirmed the business should close. Earlier this year the owner of the funeral parlour in Allendale admitted that his father, who helped with cleaning and embalming bodies, had sawn off Mr Hines's legs. The admission came after a former employee told police about the incident, four years after it happened. In April South Carolina's funeral board exhumed the body and found the severed legs in the coffin. Mr Hines has since been reburied in another coffin. Beenbeensii

Maxaa la qeylineysaa? Is your keyboard stuck in Caps Lock key?

Intee degantahay, though hadn't met her yet. I should. She aged gracefully, oo iftiinka Eebba ugu hibeeye waaka muuqataa.

While a wannabe "Canadian" rants and shares her Rush Limbaugh-like views without an iota of shamefulness on this thread (big surprise, I won't name), here is what a real Canadian writes on the newspaper's site: Here's the text of the email I sent to my Federal MP...why don't you do the same As a voter , I don’t usually request anything of my MP - however, for the first time I feel myself stirred into action by the following article . As an immigrant myself, I can well believe the runaround this woman is getting from the Canadian High Commission in Kenya. To my mind, it's a very simple matter to prove someones identity - fingerprints and DNA are standard tests, and it would seem that the local High Commission was pretty arbitrary in their action in revoking this woman's passport and putting her through all sorts of hell as a result. If she proves to be an imposter, case closed. If not, it behoves the Canadian Govt to resolve the issue and apologise to the woman fairly promptly. I would like to ask that you take some action to ensure an active followup by the High Commisssion staff in Kenya on this particular issue. NB -- Toronto Star is not a tabloid paper.

Praying for return of mother trapped 8 weeks in Kenya Strain marks the faces of family and friends as conditions deteriorate for a Toronto woman trapped in Kenya. "I would like for them to bring my mom back," said 12-year-old Mohamed Asbscir yesterday at Lawrence Square mall, where he and his mother have habitually gone for treats on Saturday mornings. "Can you imagine what he's going through?" said neighbour and babysitter Shukri Abdi. "He's worried his mother might never come home." In Kenya, eight weeks after her passport was confiscated, the woman remains confined to her hotel with no travel papers and no money to pay police bribes if she is stopped without them. "It's too scary for me to go downstairs now," said the woman identifying herself as Suaad Hagi Mohamud. "I'm broke. I have no visa, no nothing. If I'm stopped they will take me to the jail." Her calls to the Canadian High Commission went unreturned again yesterday, she said. Ottawa officials refused to answer questions in a case that, from the outside, looks easy to resolve. "If this were Somalia or some place else in Africa, we would understand," said North York Community House worker Maryan Ali, who is offering what support she can. "But this is unacceptable." Mohamud, originally from Somalia, is waiting for fingerprint tests to confirm her identity. She was returning to Toronto from Kenya eight weeks ago when a customs agent said she didn't look like her passport photo. She spent eight days in jail before being released on bail. "I asked her, 'How's the jail?' " recalled Abdi, tears welling in her eyes. "She told me, 'I don't want to talk about it.' " A working mother caring for five children of her own, Abdi agreed to look after Mohamed for three weeks and has now had him for more than two months. The stranded woman's passport was voided on May 28 by the Canadian High Commission in Nairobi. She pleaded to have her fingerprints taken, which finally happened last Thursday, she said. All that foreign affairs officers in Ottawa have said publicly is that the woman is not the rightful owner of the passport she was carrying. But there remain several unanswered questions: Who is the woman, if not Mohamud? Is she Canadian? Why are they not returning her calls? And how much longer will it take to get fingerprint results? Ali said the case has attracted attention in the Somali community, and vowed to go to Ottawa to speak out on Mohamud's behalf. Toronto Star Poor boy. Eebba ha u sahlo inay hooyadiis usoo noqoto and this ordeal dhameeyo -- aamiin.

It is a surreal. Laakiin suu ma'aha wuxuu rabay in uu tuuro, basuuka waaye. Aalaada aada, wey la heleen laakiin. Probably now meel ayaa lagu tuuray, a makeshift isbitaal, looguna dhaqaaqay, suffering with his life-altering injuries, if not succumbing to it.

Originally posted by Red Sea: MMA, Enemy= warlords in Sh. hotel ranks, himself, Amisom forces and those who are standing in the way of lasting peace in Somalia. Kamoon, Baddacas, you can come up, I am sure, something more rational than this.

Developments in the homeland, followed obsessively by the adults, held little interest among teenagers. They rolled their eyes at the older men known as “the sitting warriors,” who debated clan politics with such gusto at one Starbucks that the staff bought a decibel meter to ensure that the noise did not rise above legal limits. Reer SOL u qaab ekaa, keyboard warriors. SOL should bring forth and install bandwidth meter to ensure the bravado do not rise above what is the usual. Somalis in Minneapolis, by turns frightened and intrigued by the inquiry, came up with a Somali code name for the F.B.I. agents in their midst: Fadumo Bashir Ismael. Faadumo Bashiir Ismaaciil.

Waa ina'adeerkey. Reer Macruuf Aqiyaar isku nahnay. Eebba ha u naxariisto. The New York Times did a profile on him on the weekend, though: Zakaria Maruf , 30, moved to Minneapolis as a young teenager in 1993. He was promptly arrested for trying to steal a $15.99 necklace at a mall in Minneapolis and later fell in with the Hot Boyz, a violent street gang that had started out as a rhythm and blues band performing at Somali weddings. He visited Canada and other cities while on a traveling basketball team and graduated from Edison High School in 2000, but his criminal record hampered his search for a job, one friend recalled. He eventually found work in the stock room of a Wal-Mart in St. Paul. At the mosque, he was known for his call to prayer, which is still a ringtone on some cellphones in Minneapolis. He left for Somalia in the spring of 2008 and later emerged as a recruiter for the Shabaab. Perhaps none of Mr. Ahmed’s contemporaries had undergone a transformation like that of Zakaria Maruf. A short boy prone to fits of rage, Mr. Maruf began running afoul of the law at the age of 14. For a time, he fell in with the Hot Boyz, a violent street gang. He seemed to crave recognition. Known on the basketball court as Zak, he was a mediocre athlete, but he pushed himself harder than anyone else, recalled his coach, Ahmed Dahir. Mr. Maruf threw himself into Islam with the same intensity, becoming a fixture at a mosque near the Towers, where he mastered the call to prayer. “He had an ego the size of Minnesota,” one fellow mosque member said. “It was, ‘Look at me.’” Mr. Ahmed and Mr. Maruf were sometimes seen preaching to kids on the street, offering their own lives as examples of reform. Yet they continued to struggle. Mr. Maruf’s criminal record had foiled his search for a job. When he proposed to a young woman in 2005, her parents scoffed, one friend recalled. They did not want their daughter winding up “on welfare,” they told Mr. Maruf, who worked at a Wal-Mart. “They think that life is about money and material things, but watch what that will do for them,” Mr. Maruf told the friend one afternoon, sitting slumped at the mosque. He seemed to be searching for a clean slate. Both he and Mr. Ahmed would find it thousands of miles away. New York Times

Muxuu ka hadlooyaa horta. He is just proving the point Soomaalida aaminsan dalkooda in la kala goyn karin. Soomaali nationalists do not believe 'colonial borders,' regardless how Afrika was carved up by some long gone white men. We don't give a hoot about that. Every Soomaali should have an unalienable right to live, travel and go to any Soomaali land without worrying about any bogus sharci and artificial 'borders.' If he is so nostalgic about some long gone white men, alas he is living in a wrong era. I hope he would have preached in that era, though, that same white men he craves about to allow Northern Ireland to be carved from the mainland Ingiriiska. Or Wales or Scotland for that matter. If only they would have listened.

Who is the 'enemy' of whose country, xaaji? Islaan maskiin ah gurigeeda kasoo toostay iyo barbaarteeda, suuqa dhuxul ku gadeyso hub lala dhaco ama la isku qarxiyo, markee ku geeriyootana la yiraahdo "teeda wey qorneyd." Ma qoftaas 'enemy' ah? And some few men have 'exclusive' right to interpret the faith and do as they see fit miyaa, too?

How did I miss this? Darn, oo darn oo darn. At least waa kaa baxsaday.

It is getting really scary now to what is happening to her; you know it could happen to qof walba Soomaaliyeed oo dalkaan Kanada dhalasho ka heysto. Fak Stephen Harper and his right-wing, xenophobic nutcase regime. Eebba ha u sahlo maskiinta. On today's paper. Woman stranded in Kenya gets no help from Ottawa Canadian officials in Kenya are keeping a Toronto woman in suspense over fingerprint results that could confirm her identity. "When you are waiting for something, it's too much actually," the woman said yesterday from Nairobi, where she has been in limbo for eight weeks – including eight days in jail – after being accused of not looking like her passport photo. "I can't wait to see my son," she said. "I really miss him bad." After weeks of pleading, the woman identifying herself as Suaad Hagi Mohamud had her fingerprints taken at the Canadian high commission Thursday. The prints, she said, will match those she gave 10 years ago when she entered Canada as a Somali refugee. Consular officials did not tell her when the results might be known, only that they would "be in contact very soon," the woman said. Anxious to conserve cellphone minutes, she did not call the high commission yesterday, but plans to today if she hears nothing. "I'm broke," she said. "I don't know what to do. I don't even know if my (return air) ticket is still valid." In Ottawa, media handlers said they had no idea what is happening. Foreign affairs spokesman Daniel Barbarie said he has asked to be kept up to date on the case, but Canadian consular officials have sent him nothing. He knows nothing about the fingerprint-checking process, he said. He could not even officially confirm the woman went to the high commission to be fingerprinted. The foreign affairs minister's spokeswoman said she, too, is being kept in the dark. "I guess the officials will take the time they need, to do what they need to do," said Catherine Loubier. Mohamud flew to Kenya from Toronto on April 29 to visit her sick mother, leaving her 12-year-old son with a neighbour. Xigasho

Qoraalkaan la socotay that pamphlet. Inkastoo Soomaalida warbaahinta qaarkood wararkooda la aamini karin, it seems it is still believable in this case. [Qoraalka waa tifaftiray.] Maydadka Shabaab oo Waxay u Dirirayaan laga Helay Jeebabkooda Dagaalkii shalay (daraad) ka dhacay Muqdisho oo shabaabka iyo Xisbul Islaam looga riixay goobo badan oo ay haysteen ayaa halkaasi laga helay waraaqo ku jiray jeebabka dhallinta Alshabaab oo ay ku qornaayeen waxa lagu dagaal geliyey ee ay doonayaan. Waraaqahan jeebabka Shabaab laga helay ayaa waxaa diyariyey nin lagu magacaabay C/llaahi Ansaari, waxaana waraaqaha ku qornaa oo lix bog ka kooban quruxda iyo fadliga gabdhaha xuuraylcaynta oo warqadaa lagu sheegay wixii kuso arooray gabdhahaa ee axaadiis ama Quraan ah. Waxaa loo sheegay dhalinta in qofkii jannada gala uu helayo laba xuuralcayn halka kuwa shahiida ay ka helayaan 72 xuuralcayn. Waxaa sido kale loo sheegay in maanta waxa Soomaliyaka socdaa jihaad yahay oo ninkii dagalka ku shahiida uu helayo 72 xuuralcayn. Dhalinta oo ku nool daruufo adag oo laga yaabo inaan qaarkood guur ama nolol wanaagsan arag ama rajo dhaw ka qabin ayaa loo tilmaamay in wixii qofku u noolaa ay ahayd inuu jannada iyo raallinimada alle helo iyo xuural caynta oo uu ka xaroobo rabitanka adduunyada. Waxaa kaloo loo sheegay in xuuralcayntu u xanaaqaan dartood oo ay haatan Alle fadligii jihaadkii Soomaaliya ka dillaacay sidaa darteedna ay Xamar dul heehaabayaan xuuralcayn u baahan rag kasbada. [ ] Inta badan dhallinta ay Shabaabku dagaal galiyaan ayaan aqoon durugsan u lahayn diinta iyo nolosha adduunyadaba iyadoo laga waardiiyeeyo inuu gaaro warka culimadii waa weyneyd e Soomaaliya ee xarakaatka Soomaaliyeed aasaasay xataa haba ahaadeen kuwa tayaarka salafiyada ee ay ku abtirsadaan ama kaso jeedaan inta badan ragga haatan Shabaabka hoggaamiya. Sidoo kale inta badan madaxda Shabaabka ayaan la maqal iyagoo shahaadada iyo xuuralcaynta doontay oo safka hore ku dhintay ama isqarxiyey balse waxaa ugu daran in ragga ugu madaxsan ay aad isku qariyaan oo aan muuqadaba la arag ama aysan saxaafadda hor imaan marka laga reebo rag aan muhiim u ahayn oo safka warbaahitna la keen o laga maarmi karo halka ragga lafdhabarta ah ay dhuuntaan oo aysan inta badan safka hore iman marka laga reebo nin ama labo gantaal raadasanayey lala helo mooyaane. Waxaa culimada Soomaaliyeed ee leh aragtiyada kala duwan iyo culimada dunida muslimkaba isku waafaqen in waxa Soomaliya ka jira uusan jihaad ahayn oo u dhexeeya qolo kaligod Muslim ah iyo kuwa gaalo ah waxaase ayaandarro ah in dhallin Soomaaliyeed la qaldo oo iyaga oo xuuralcayn doonaya ay ku dhintaan dagaal Soomaali u dhexeeya oo laguna diidan yahay rabitaanka inta badan ee Soomaalida Muslimka ah oo doonaya in Soomaaliya ka hana qaaddo dawlad Soomaalidu leedahay oo islaam ah balse ku eg xaduudaheeda oo aan caalam kale duullaan ku ahayn. Waxaa kaloo ayaan darro ah in culimada ka hadasha in waxa Soomaliya ka socda jihaad ahayn ama dhiig muslim daadanayo lasoo qaxiyo ama dil lagu handado sida ku dhacday culmo badan oo gudaha Soomaaliya joogtay. Xigasho

Some quotes from the pamphlet. "Shakina kuma jiro inay haweenku ragga jecelyihiin, inkasta oo jaceylkooda aanu la mid ahayn sida raggu u jecelyihiin haweenka." "Kaacibku waa gabadha quruxda badan ee ay soo baxsanyihiin naasaheeda." [ ]

Originally posted by Jaanjumow: As far as i read, Kaaraan, Boondheere, Shibis, Yaaqshiid, C/casiis, Galgalato and most of Heliwa, which are majority of what the mucaarad had are under government control. Add that to what the government already control such as Xamarweyn, Singaani, Xamar Jadiid, Waaberi Madina and dharkeenley, that totals up to majority of xamar. Simples Are you sure you know Xamar that well? Singaani?! Xamarjadiid??!! Xamarjajab ula jeedaa, I guess. And Dharkeenleydaana meelee ka timid garan la'ahay. I guess it was degmo cusub la sameeye just before the civil war, Wadajir ka dambeysaa filaa.

Out of Africa Anab Mohamed Issa just wants to bring her autistic son home. He's a Canadian citizen, stranded in Kenya. All he needs is a replacement passport. Ms. Issa is Somali-Canadian. She works two jobs as a cleaner in Ottawa. For almost three years, Ms. Issa has been sending applications, letters, affidavits, forms and photos to Passport Canada. "I feel like I'm standing at the edge of the Grand Canyon, throwing paper in," says David Yerzy, a Toronto lawyer who has been working with Ms. Issa. "I'm just very frustrated and depressed." In 2004, Ms. Issa travelled with her 20-year-old son to Bosaso, Somalia. She liked Canada, had been here since 1990, but her son wasn't doing well here. Abdihakim Mohamed is a big man, with disruptive behavioural problems. It was more than Ms. Issa could handle on her own. A psychiatrist in Scarborough thought a change in cultural context might improve his communication and social skills. So Ms. Issa and her son went to stay with relatives in Somalia. After about nine months, Ms. Issa returned to Canada. That's when she made a mistake. She described it, later, in an affidavit: "He was happy staying with my family and they were happy to look after him. However, I did not want to leave his Canadian passport with him because I was afraid it would be stolen. Canadian passports are very valuable in this part of the world and I wanted to keep it safely. I thought this was the best course of action because I have Power of Attorney for Property and I am responsible for his passport. I could not trust him to look after it and there was nowhere safe where it could be kept under lock and key." It was the wrong decision, but understandable. At Pearson Airport, in April 2005, Canadian officials seized her son's passport from her, because it was being carried by someone other than the holder. Fair enough. In 2006, Ms. Issa's mother-in-law in Somalia got sick and was having trouble looking after Mr. Mohamed. Ms. Issa decided to bring her son home. She took him to Nairobi, to apply for a passport at the Canadian High Commission there, which serves Somalia. The immigration officer in Nairobi didn't believe Mr. Mohamed was who his mother said he was; one of the issues seems to be that he didn't seem autistic enough. The photo on his citizenship card was taken when he was younger, although to my eye, it bears a strong resemblance to a more recent photo. Ms. Issa returned to Canada, leaving her son under the imperfect care of relatives in Nairobi. She kept trying to get him a passport. Mr. Mohamed is unhappy in Kenya; his autism and his Somali ethnicity make him vulnerable to thuggery and harassment from the authorities. In April 2008, Ms. Issa got a letter from Passport Canada informing her she was under investigation for her "involvement in attempting to obtain a passport for an imposter in the name of [her] son Abdihakim." But she hasn't been charged with anything. Then, in July, the same agency said she couldn't apply for a regular passport on her son's behalf anyway, because Mr. Mohamed's mental incapacity preceded the granting of Power of Attorney. Passport Canada told her she needs a court order giving her guardianship. Ms. Issa would be happy to oblige -- but that process requires Abdihakim to be in Canada. Her other option, Passport Canada said, was to apply for a passport of limited validity on compassionate grounds. But then, in November, Passport Canada told her that "there remains the issue surrounding the true identity of this individual, which must be resolved before a travel document will be issued." In a particularly pig-headed coda, Passport Canada asked for her help in determining who the man applying for a passport in the name of her son might be. Jean Lash of South Ottawa Community Legal Services has been gathering a pile of affidavits from Canadian citizens who know Mr. Mohamed and can vouch for his identity. Mr. Mohamed has offered to submit to DNA testing, Ms. Lash says, but Passport Canada hasn't taken him up on the offer. "We're not sure what else we can do," says Ms. Lash. "He had a valid passport, which was seized by the government," says Mr. Yerzy, who knows Mr. Mohamed and signed an affidavit attached to his recent photo. "It's not lost. All he needs is a passport renewal." He might be home by now, if it weren't for the slow grind of an entrenched bureaucracy -- and if he were equipped to argue on his own behalf. A spokesman for Passport Canada wouldn't comment on the case, or on what threshold of proof the agency requires when there's a dispute over identity. Ottawa Citizen

The paper run an editorial about it today. ____________ Overseas nightmares Canadians setting off on overseas travels may worry that they will lose their passports, cash or credit cards. Few fret about losing their identities, however. But that is apparently the nightmare that awaited two Somali-born travellers in Kenya, where they are trapped and unable to leave for Canada because Ottawa does not believe they are who they claim to be. It's a dilemma that would be familiar to Franz Kafka's famous character, Josef K, who wakes up one morning and, for reasons never revealed, is arrested and prosecuted for an unspecified crime. It's also a situation that highlights the failure of the government and its officials to assist citizens in trouble. Indeed, if the claimants are the citizens they – and their friends and relatives in Canada – say they are, it shows a laxity toward civil rights that is unbecoming of a democracy. If the two are faking their identities, their cases could have been cleared up promptly by taking steps that would allow them to be identified through the routine fingerprinting, dental records or DNA tests used in domestic cases. Instead, they have been left wandering in a bureaucratic wilderness. Suaad Hagi Mohamud of Toronto was to leave Kenya nearly two months ago, when Nairobi airport officials, claiming she didn't look like her passport photo, had her arrested. Released on bail, she found that Canadian consular officials had confirmed the Kenyans' suspicion that she was an imposter. Until last week, they ignored her pleas to prove her identity by taking her fingerprints. Meanwhile, Abdihakim Mohamed , a young autistic man, has been stranded in Kenya since 2006, while his mother in Ottawa has vainly attempted to obtain a passport for him. The original was seized by Canadian officials when she brought it back with her on return from Kenya a year earlier – she claims for safekeeping. Passport Canada has since denied Mohamed a new one until his "true identity" is established. But officials have ignored his offer to take a DNA test. There are signs that both cases may now be close to a resolution, as media interest has grown and pressure has built on the government. But a lack of aid for Canadians in trouble overseas is unfortunately not unique. In spite of Ottawa's own declarations that "Canada has long sought to support Canadians abroad" and that "assisting citizens who are living, travelling or preparing to travel abroad is one of the defining aspects of the consular services of every nation," the government seems to regard its help as optional. The foreign affairs ministry's briefing for travellers reminds us that each year Canadians make more than 100 million trips abroad, and that they should be well prepared for the emergencies of the 21st century before they leave. What they don't say is that once there, they may be on their own. Or at least at the mercy of officials, and a government, whose opinion determines whether or not they warrant help. The hallmark of a democracy is that its citizens are free to come and go as they please, and in safety. Fulfilling half the equation is not an option for the government. Toronto Star

Waxyaabo badan aanan ogeyn ayaa jiro. It is not madoow and caddaan, or as it seems. Teeda kale Kanada right-wing regime ayaa powerka heysto. They don't give a rat's **** about hyphenated 'Canadian.' I am glad, though, they are a minority government.