Here's an excerpt of Lost Opportunities in the Horn of Africa: How Conflicts Connect and Peace Agreements Unravel. Another fascinating read from Chatham House. Mbgathi outcome: the Transitional Federal Government The IGAD-led peace process was initially conceived as a reconciliation conference between Abdiqasim’s TNG and its Ethiopian-backed opponents, headed by Abdulahi Yusuf. By the end of the long-drawn-out conference there was no trace of the TNG: Somalia was to make a fresh start under a Transitional Federal Government (TFG). A 275-strong transitional parliament, selected by Somali clans in proportion to their numbers in the overall population, had been appointed. However, the fact that all the clans were represented in the new parliament did not mean that the clan representatives in parliament carried any political weight in their localities. In October 2004 this parliament, sitting in Kenya, elected Colonel Yusuf as President of the TFG. The dominant belief among observers of the process is that Yusuf ’s election was organized by Ethiopia. But there are other possible explanations. The ****** warlords who took part in the peace conference were hopelessly divided and fielded two candidates against Yusuf, enabling him to snatch the majority of votes. Ethiopian sources insist that they did not bribe the transitional parliament to select Yusuf. But the common assertion that he was installed by Ethiopia has become part of the orthodoxy by which the legitimacy of the TFG and Yusuf himself is dismissed. Yusuf needed a leading Mogadishu man, from a ****** clan, to ease his acceptance in the capital. His first plan was to select Hussein Aideed, who had been associating with Eritrea. However, he eventually settled on the appointment of Ali Mohamed Gedi as Prime Minister. According to some analysts, this was at Ethiopia’s insistence. Gedi selected a government that was representative of all the clans (including those who had boycotted the conference), and a lengthy government list was approved by parliament in early 2005. All these proceedings took place in Kenya. The external mediators and the backers of the process intended that the TFG would lay the groundwork for creating a federal system of government in Somalia. The framework was provided by the Transitional Federal Charter, drafted and agreed among a large number of faction leaders. It was to include the re-establishment of political, administrative and security institutions. A new constitution was to be drawn up and elections were to be held for a new government to end the transitional period in 2009. Read the full report here.

Would it still be called dumaal if my wife is alive?

You know, as funny and weird as Yey sounds to anyone under 30 or even 40, he sounds like a typical older Somali man. His entire frame of reference is the clan. Everyone is a clan first then a person second. I can't relate to that shit. I see people as individuals. If I learn of their clan, it's just another attribute like their middle name. Yey's fault is not his immersion in the clan system, God knows I have people in my own family who sound like him. Yey's fault is pursuing power at all cost. Even his soul.

Originally posted by money: Scenario 2 A husband dies and leaves behind a wife ( beautiful one )with ... say only 2 kids. Freudian moment?

^^^^ LOL. This is what happens when you have a "peace" agreement, like the one in Djibouti, when a major party to the conflict is not a signatory: it's business as usual. I worry about the population when the Ethiopians get reinforcements and return to avenge their defeat today.

Naxar, you seem to be confusing occupation and colonization. You're right, we (myself included) tend to blame all of our ills on Ethiopia nowadays. That is an extreme, I agree, but it is a lesser extreme compared to your willful denial there's an occupation altogether. Somalia is under Ethiopian occupation today. This is not in dispute. That Ethiopia is a pathetically poor nation is not in dispute either. The two concepts are not mutually exclusive atheer. The Sayyid, the Shabaab, the TFG, the secessionists, the dab0dh!l!fs, the clannists, those starving in Afgooye, those drowning in the high seas, and those bitterly divided in the diaspora are all us. Ethiopia has been a thorn in our side for centuries but, even if it wanted, it couldn't take credit for all of this mess we're in. We have made our beds, atheer, and we must now lie in them.

Originally posted by HornAfrique: The irony here is Emperor starting a topic praising a man's resistance against foreign imperialism based on religious grounds! Horn, I must admit your brilliance has always been there but sadly it was overshadowed by an uncharacteristic obsession with Hiiraale. I salute you for pointing out this amazing irony: Emperor is a closet admirer of Al-Shabaab. Who would have thunk it? There's hope for all my brothers, even the ones from Puntland. I have not given up on you.

At least Somalis wait till they reach puberty. Hooyadeed Bilan bay tidhaah Aabeheed Bilisuu yidhaah Ana baraar le'eg baan idhaah Hedhe baraar adhi wuu koraaye Makortadii ma lakorinayaa

Be that as it may, stating that Ina Abdulle Xassan had leadership qualities and led a movement is just stating the obvious, your not addressing the historical fallacy in question here. That is linking June 26th 1960 (which seems to have come back into relevance amongst our southern Brethren)to Ina Abdulle Hassan's dervishes nearly four decades prior. Let me be bold enough to state what should be a matter of historical fact, June 26th 1960 did not take place because of the Sayid. You're on the money here. What's even worse than this nonexistent correlation you mentioned is that the poster of this topic simultaneously cheers the Ethiopian occupation today while reminiscing about the Sayyid who fought a similar attempt by Abyssinia a century earlier.

Originally posted by Faarax-Brawn: Such a vain sheikh!--it is just a silly award from some gaalo whats the big fuss? This sheikh reminds of cabbies in Minneapolis. "Stuff and nonsense"®

Originally posted by NGONGE: If a person is thick enough to accept advice from a corpse they are dim enough to believe and fall for all sorts of other fantasies. I don't approve of this sort of nonsense and I'm airing my views here. I'm surprised that you could not see the literary value of having a corpse do the voice-over. The aim of the story is good. The delivery is dead on arrival. If you want to see a beautiful reminder that is neither patronising nor boring, go read what Kashafa wrote in the ennui. Indeed.

peacenow, have faith brother. When times are tough, as they are now, it helps to have faith, however little. Somalia will rise again. May be not in our lifetimes but it will. And stop posting these depressing topics. Cheer up dude.

Good reminder overall but that part about the "devil" girlfriend says a lot about the author.

Sheikh Sharif is charismatic, articulate and a man of God. He has no blood on his hands. He has no Xerox machines in his closet to print money. He is not trying to break up the country. And he has not collaborated with any foreign entity to seize or maintain any position of power. I am certain he has many more but these qualities alone literally make him the only candidate qualified to lead Somalis today. What the future holds for him and that wretched land of ours is unknown to all of us.

^^^^ Cheer the occupation and the war crimes in Xamar then cry over "fitna" and "suffering" in Sool. Let me repeat: looooooooooooool.

Originally posted by Peace Action: I know all of you secessionist do not see the fitna you have caused in Sool but to gloat about it everyday shows how you'r blinded to suffering of other Somalis and how the virus of clan supermacy have taken over your body. À la KoolKat, looooooooooooool. Karma is a B!tch.

Where's Admin? This topic has turned grown men to school yard boys. Easy fellas.

Bantu Somalis are head and shoulders above "ethnic" (god damn) Somalis in every way.

^^^^ It means either: a) He smokes Cuban cigars, or b) He watches ESPN and ESPN2, or c) He would never have the titles Sheikh or Mujahid, or d) He practices Wicca, or e) He believes the universe is 14 billion years old and we all descended from single-cell organisms that lived some 3.6 billion years, or f) The last time he was in a mosque was age 2, or g) He lives in Italy, or h) All of the above Sorry, don't mean to hijack. Sheikh Sharif is the defacto leader of Somalis. I really want to him to be but nowadays he keeps bad company. May Allah guide him and us through these tough times.

Just who or what is left in this "alliance"? Could it even be called an alliance still? The good Sheikh (come secular diplomat lately) is getting more airtime than the liver-less one and is walking a very fine line nowadays. I wish him success but he may be playing with fire here. Americans don't endorse "sheikhs" unless they have oil and Somalis don't need another Gheedi or Yey. By the way, just what is the "President" of the republic up to nowadays? loool.

Originally posted by Miskiin-Macruuf-Aqiyaar: That song is too XXX-rated, yet few understood the words' true meaning. Nothing x-rated about it awoowe. It all it means is "I'm the one to make all your dreams come true." How you define dreams depends on the wiring in your brain.

Originally posted by Northerner: ^^Practice makes perfect saxib. I was terrible a few years ago but SOL has actually helped alot. Oh you think so, eh? Try translating this: "Ani lee baraakadaada bukeen karaaye, ani lee bukeen karaaye." (LOL) This may help. Good luck and please don't ask anyone. P.S. Anyone care to drop the lyrics for the entire song? In English?

^^^^ That's exactly right. Only the ambitious would risk their lives to improve them. The multitudes of bums sitting in mafrishs would never get on a boat or risk their lives in any way. Not even by waking up early. Those are the ba$tards I'd like to see drown. May Allah forgive their sins and grant them Jannah. They have no more worries.

Originally posted by Miskiin-Macruuf-Aqiyaar: Why do some folks routinely post misleading titles? Do they read the articles they supposedly post mise expect us not to read and fall gullibly the deceptive title only? A very crude and primitive form of propaganda. It does very little in terms of effectiveness but what it does is expose the poster as possibly lazy or of inferior linguistic skills.

Beled Weyn, Somalia (HOL) - A former member of Ethiopian troops who currently works with the regional administration of Hiiraan was shot dead in front of a café in the centre of the city of Beledweyne, in Hiiraan, by a man armed with a handgun. The deceased man’s name was given only as Kuusow. Extra-judicial killings are really not the solution to curb this epidemic of dabadh!lifnimo we are suffering from. Who knows why this late "Kuusow" decided to become a collaborator? Money? Jago? Revenge? Brainwash? Furthermore, who knows if he has repented and realized the error of his ways? We don't even know if the Ethiopians killed him for being a double agent.