Wiilo, abaayo, A/Y saying this is akin to Dubya admitting he invaded Iraq for oil. Everyone knows it and when it's uttered, it doesn't even register.

^ I think MKA Yonis secretly likes you. You two are certainly birds of a feather.

How come I don't post much these days? Since the last week of December 2006 to date, I have 660 posts. Mostly rubbish, as usual, but a few contain nuggets of wisdom. I believe you already have all the real gold that you need. Dubai, as with many with other things that glitter, is not gold. (I'm just hating coz I can't find a job there. )

Originally posted by Kimiya: I saw you coming adeer besides I'm kinda alergic to folks who repeat media propaganda about Islam. S/He has potential though, cashuur baa ku maqan [ ]. Mentor her/him intaanu Taliban cunaha ku dhegin LOOOL. I think it's too late for Bokero. Taliban has him in his cross hairs already. P.S. After reading that 'cunaha ku dhegin' I realized who you were. Signature Kimiya indeed. The name through me off though. Chemistry, is that it? What the ...? Good to see you in this dungeon.

^^ You jumped off instead of helping him/her off as well? Tsk, tsk. Are Somali’s genetically backward What does 'genetically backward' mean? Surely you don't mean their genes are assembled the wrong way. Being a researcher yourself, you ought to know then such generalizations are always false. Have we not inflected enough pain by what we have done to ourselves,??,, most of you do not have to live in stinky, flighty, flee ridden tents that most of Somali women and children call home in Daadab or Kakuma refugee camps… I urge you all to go and see what we have done to ourselves go to Kenyan refugee camps.. then u may start to appreciate the consequences of tribalism and small mindedness… This is hardly unique to Somalis and it involves factors that go beyond clan, race, religion, or nationality. To name a few, it involves power, the pursuit of ever more scarce resources (oil, water, land, cheap labor, etc..), the desire to dominate these resources, the hastily drawn colonial borders encouraging ethnic and racial strife, and many other factors. Somalia's 'civil' unrest is no different from Lebanon, Congo, Yugoslavia, Vietnam, Cambodia, and many more nation-states who have suffered and continue to suffer through these things for years and decades. In terms of the number of refugees, Somalia pales in comparison to many other countries. And while that is not something to be entirely proud of, it is certainly not something to wail about either. Some Palestinian refugees have been living in 'camps' for almost 6 decades (well into the third generation) and still talk of returning home. We may get there but we're not there just yet. I just can’t bring myself to understand why Somali’s seem to be so prone to focus to parochial issues. I think you'd be hard pressed to find any peoples who are less prone to focus on parochial issues. Nomadic lifestyle is fairly unique but most nation-states are comprised of groups of little parishes of clan, religious denomination, social class, race, ethnicity and so on. Somalis are no more prone to focus on parochial issues than say Christian Evangelicals or Latino undocumented workers. The numbers vary but the focus is the same. What do you offer with all the education western tax payers have affored you?? The same western people one of us tried to thank them by attempting to blow them up in London (thankfully the ***** failed)!!! Well that's not fair is it? An education neither ensures enlightenment nor does it guarantee wisdom. It works much the same here, there and every where. Ignorance, as you may find out one day, has many layers only a few of which are removed by formal education. Furthermore, why would you put 'western tax payer afforded' education and the bombing in London in the same sentence? Your statement and earlier references to '7th' and '12th' century wreak of Fox News like cynicism (if not using the same words) and you should spend sometime pondering why you hold these beliefs. Is this the education you encourage others to acquire? With a little reading of contemporary and ancient history along with some critical analysis of current events in context of the factors that shape them, you will come to understand (and hopefully ease your mind about) the mess Somalia is in. Come on, use that 'western tax payer' educated mind of yours.

^^ Good for you. General Duke: "I'm grateful to atheero Abdillahi Yusuf for his perseverance. He waited 40 years to sleep in Villa Somalia and I prayed for him every night all those years. I'm also very grateful for atheer Meles Zenawi for sending his troops to make it possible for atheero Yusuf to be sleeping in Villa Somalia as I write these words. Last, but certainly not least, I'm grateful to atheer George W. Bush for arming atheer Zenawi and giving him the green light to invade, I mean defend, Somalia. I'm also eternally grateful that he sent his own AC-130's (whose hard work in Iraq and Afghanistan I'm grateful for as well) to bomb the shit out of those terrorists who wanted to kill my atheero Abdillahi. I'm certain, as well, if atheer Bush traced his ancestry he would find that he has roots in Buntland [ ]. Alhamdulilah for my three atheeros. I'm in tears walaahi."

The Courts have been destroyed. Just ask the many dishonest laymen on SOL who cheer for the TFG. If that's the case, and all the warlords have been de-fanged, there's virtually no opposition to this puppet regime, what will the African peace keepers do in Somalia? Well, they will be there to protect the puppet regime. Protect it from what? Ah, they will be there to protect it from the people. That's right, the people are the greatest threat to this cowardly regime. Not the courts and not warlord militia. Let them come. Since the AU supported the Ethiopian invasion, they will reap what they have sown.

Originally posted by peacenow: Aborrent the TFG are. There is no present alternative in the horizon. We either support or that is it, this is the last chance. Here's the likely outcome as suggested by PINR. An appraisal of the political and military facts on the ground, and of the policies forged in diplomatic chambers, yields the conclusion that the domestic and external actors in Somalia's conflicts do not have sufficient will to stabilize the country as an effective nation-state. Following the failure of the A.U. summit to cap a vigorous diplomatic push, donor powers and international organizations are unlikely to keep up their momentum, leaving regional states to pursue their own interests and African states from other regions to stay on the sidelines. As external pressure lets up, Somali factions -- lacking a national political formula under which to unite -- will find relative safety in retrenchment. Expect the reversion of Somalia to fragmentation to continue and intensify. Who needs a nation state anyway? Of what benefit is this 'Somaliweyn' we all seek? I'd like to see someone argue this in the context of the mess we're in.

So they offered him instant bliss (wealth, power, etc.) and he said no. They threatened him with jail but were restrained by their earlier words of him being a "moderate" (whatever that means) and the fear of making him an even bigger icon than he already is. They really had no choice but to let him go. What an honorable man Sheikh Shariif is.

MOGADISHU (Reuters) - Five civilians were killed in the latest guerrilla-style strikes on Ethiopian military and Somali government positions in Mogadishu, witnesses said on Friday. Resident Adey Malim Nur confirmed both his sons were killed in mortar attacks late on Thursday. Three others were previously known to have died from the attack near the presidential palace. "They died instantly," Nur told Reuters. "My older son was standing outside the house when a mortar hit him in the stomach, my other son was inside the house. My wife and daughter were also wounded." The Somali government said those behind the attack were probably militants from an Islamist movement ousted from Mogadishu after a six-month rule of most of south Somalia. Government forces backed by Ethiopia's military routed the Islamists in a two-week campaign in December. "Investigations are under way," Information Minister Al Ahmed Jama told Reuters. "It's possible a few of the Islamist remnant trouble-makers were behind the attacks." In Thursday's assault, mortar bombs and rockets struck parts of the sea port, near the Villa Somalia palace where President Abdullahi Yusuf stays, and hit homes nearby. It was the latest in a string of assassinations and strikes -- including on Ethiopian military convoys and bases, and a mortar attack on Villa Somalia -- since the war at the New Year. Most casualties have been civilians. U.N. HELP The violence has underlined the challenges facing Yusuf's government in its efforts to establish central rule in Somalia for the first time since 1991 when the ouster of a dictator turned the Horn of Africa nation into a byword for anarchy. The African Union (AU) is struggling to build a peacekeeping force for Somalia to fill a security vacuum after Ethiopian troops leave. But many African nations are nervous about sending soldiers to one of the world's most dangerous countries. Since their defeat, the Islamists have scattered to southern Somalia but vowed a long guerrilla war. In Nairobi, the United Nations said the international community must assist the Somali government to restore order. "This is the right time to help the people in Somalia. The people, especially youth, are tired of war," Eric Laroche, U.N. humanitarian coordinator for Somalia, told reporters. Laroche said the U.N. was planning to help Somalia restore local administration by training police, rebuilding health centres, re-establishing education programmes and resettling approximately 400,000 internally displaced people. He added that more than 3,000 metric tones of relief food meant for people in the Gedo region of Somalia were stuck in neighbouring Kenya, which closed its border due to the war. (Additional reporting by Hassan Yare in Baidoa, Wangui Kanina in Nairobi) Reuters

^ You think MKA is the only joke on this forum Abu_Geeljirow? You have a short memory indeed. The tanks and the armour from Ethiopia was nothing compared to the Eritrean, oromo and outside support for the courts, thus the truth is that one ally defeated another.

Burundi Proposes Offering Troops for Somalia, Uganda Parliament Stalls By Cathy Majtenyi Nairobi 01 February 2007 Majtenyi report - Download 320k audio clip Listen to Majtenyi report audio clip Burundi has agreed to offer troops for the African Union peacekeeping initiative in Somalia. Meanwhile, Uganda's parliament is brushing aside attempts by the ruling party to push through a motion to send Ugandan troops to Somalia. Cathy Majtenyi reports for VOA from Nairobi. Burundi's Minister of Foreign Affairs Antoinette Batumubwira tells VOA that the proposal to send 1,000 troops to Somalia needs to be approved by Burundi's parliament and senate. She explains the reasons behind the proposal. "The African Union has asked to any country that could contribute troops that it could do so," said Batumubwira. "We have a battalion that is ready, that is trained for this kind of mission. We have been helped also when we had difficulties so we would like to also contribute to peacekeeping on the continent." The foreign minister was referring to troops that were brought into Burundi as part of a peace process to end to more than a decade of civil war. Meanwhile, in Uganda, the ruling party's efforts to push through a motion in parliament to debate the issue of Ugandan peacekeepers was voted down Wednesday, primarily because most opposition MPs had walked out of the house earlier to protest another issue. The lawmakers had argued that it would be improper for the house to discuss the issue with so many opposition members absent. The ruling National Resistance Movement last month approved a plan to send a contingent of Ugandan peacekeeping troops into Somalia. At the time, the party's director of information, Ofwono Opondo, told VOA that "the deployment is as good as done," largely because the National Resistance Movement's caucus constitutes more than two-thirds of the members of parliament. But some Ugandan lawmakers are doubtful about the proposal. Member of Parliament for Gulu Betty Aol Ocan explains. "We still have problems also here, and we do not know the terms of these people [peacekeepers]. We do not know whether they are going as peacekeepers, or they are going as fighters, because right now there is still fighting in Somalia. So, there is a lot of mixed feelings there - we are not very sure," said Ocan. The African Union has approved a plan to send 8,000 African peacekeepers into Somalia as part of efforts to stabilize the country, particularly after the ouster of the Islamic Courts Union. During its summit earlier this week, African Union officials were pushing African countries to contribute troops to the mission. Several countries had indicated that they were thinking of doing so. Since civil war broke out in 1991, militias loyal to clan and sub-clan-based factions have controlled different parts of the country, with no central authority to provide law and order and even basic services to the population. A transitional Somali parliament was formed in Kenya more than two years ago following a peace process. VOA

Mortar attack at Mogadishu main seaport Unknown militia has tonight attacked the main seaport in restive Somalia capital, Mogadishu – five civilians killed in the reactions of the Ethiopian forces. It is a sing of further insecurity and violence in the city. Around nine mortar shells have been fired at the port, which houses Ethiopian forces together with the interim government troops. Three of the mortars have fallen in the port while the two other rounds hit outside. The shelling started around 3:40pm local time as the allied forces of Ethiopia and Somalia got alerted and were ready to react against the attackers. “We at once woke up by the sounds of artillery fires, I tried to find what is going on and I understood that it was an attack aimed at seaport,” Ali Abdi, one of the local residents near Mogadishu told Somalinet by telephone. The Ethiopian forces suddenly reacted with their own rocket counter-attacks, sources confirmed Somalinet. Some of the rockets slammed in compounds of displaced people in Mogadishu killing at least five civilians and injuring dozens others. Residents in the areas of the shelling began fleeing heading to safe grounds. Islamist extremists hiding in the capital continue to attack positions of the allied forces of Somalia in the city mainly after dark. The government has nowhere to go to capture the attackers, despite security officials vowed to hunt down the remnants of the ousted Islamists. The latest mortar attack was part of series insurgent attacks against the presence of the Ethiopian forces in the capital. Some reports say that stray mortar shells hit areas near the seaport fearing that it might cause human casualties. Earlier, the government officials acknowledged that about 3,000 Islamist remnants are hiding in Mogadishu organizing attacks on the government interests. Elsewhere in Mogadishu, unidentified gunmen have launched an attack on Lafa-weyn hotel in north of the capital. No casualty has been reported. Other developments, three people have been killed and others were wounded in north of Mogadishu this afternoon in armed clashes between two local militias. The fighting began after rival sides argued over land possession in Geda-Qorow area in Suqa-Xolaha village. The situation in the Somalia capital Mogadishu is deteriorating time by time as nighttime attacks became something common to ears of the public. Somalinet

Unidentified gunmen have tonight attacked a military compound housing Ethiopian forces in the Somalia capital Mogadishu – it is part of increasing insurgent attacks in the city. Residents told Somalinet that they could hear explosions and gunfire in Suqa-Xolaha (market of livestock) area in north of the capital. “We heard the sounds of heavy explosions around 8:00 pm local time and then followed several minutes gunfire near El-Erfid where the Ethiopian forces are stationing,” Maslah Mohamed, one of the local residents said. There is no immediate casualty on the latest attack. The attackers were reported to have been riding Toyota Pickup or SUV and fired around five mortar shells at the compound. It is the fifth attack by supporters of the ousted Islamists in Mogadishu within a week as bodies of slaughtered men were seen in different locations of the capital. No one knows who carried out the killings in Mogadishu. Meanwhile, unknown pro Islamist insurgents spread leaflets in the capital putting thousands of US dollar on the head of the interim government spokesman Abdirahmna Dinari. They said in the paper that they would pay $10,000 for the death or capture of Dinari who they described him as the enemy of Islam. The leaflets were today circulating in the capital as everybody saw it. Earlier, extremists in Somalia warned on Tuesday they would hunt down and kill the soldiers of AU peacekeepers if they land in Somalia soil In a videotape posted on the official Web site of Somalia's routed Islamic movement ( www.qaadisiya.com ), a masked Islamist gunman read a statement saying that all African peacekeepers would be seen as invaders. The video warning comes as African leaders met in neighboring Ethiopia to discuss the deployment of 8,000 peacekeepers to Somalia. So far only three nations — Uganda, Nigeria and Malawi — have pledged around 4,000 troops. Somalinet

February 1, 2007 Posted to the web February 1, 2007 Aweys Osman Yusuf Addis Ababa At least 24 soldiers who defected from the transitional government base in Kismayu, southern Somalia, were intercepted in Jinlib district, some 386 km south of the capital Mogadishu. The Ethiopian soldiers reportedly intercepted the soldiers equipped with two pickup trucks mounted with anti-aircraft guns and AK 47 rifles. Witnesses told Shabelle that the capture of the troops happened late yesterday afternoon although it is not apparent to which destination they were heading. Qoley, the acting chairman of Jilib district, has told Shabelle that the "deserters" were placed in jail. "We have contacted and infirmed Somali defense minister, Barre Hirale, about the deserters," he said. All Africa, Shabelle

Originally posted by General Duke: ^^^The tanks and the armour from Ethiopia was nothing compared to the Eritrean, oromo and outside support for the courts, thus the truth is that one ally defeated another. Possibly the greatest and most shameless lie told in this forum. Pathetic and reprehensible.

Hundreds Protest in Somali Capital By MOHAMED SHEIK NOR Associated Press Writer MOGADISHU, Somalia | Hundreds of Somalis demonstrated Thursday against a plan that would place foreign peacekeepers in the country. The protesters chanted anti-government slogans and burned tires, a day after the African Union said three battalions of peacekeepers from Uganda and Nigeria were ready to be deployed in Somalia and will be airlifted in as soon as possible. "We will not tolerate foreign troops coming to our country," demonstrator Saida Hussien said. "We will show the world that we are against the foreign troops." The demonstrators, who protested in northern Mogadishu - an area known for its strong support of the Islamic group - carried placards that read, "We don't want foreign troops," and "Down with Ethiopia," referring to Ethiopia's military intervention that routed the Council of Islamic Courts. The protesters called for the return of the Islamic movement, which was credited with restoring some order in the violent nation. Factional violence has again become a feature of life in Mogadishu since last month when Somali government troops with crucial support from Ethiopian soldiers, tanks and war planes ousted the Islamic movement. Mortar and grenade attacks have also been launched against Ethiopian and government troop garrisons in the city. Ethiopian troops have begun withdrawing, presenting the possibility of a dangerous power vacuum. The African Union was pressing ahead with its peacekeeping mission to Somalia despite securing only half the 8,000 troops needed at a key summit of African leaders that ended Tuesday. Five nations - Uganda, Nigeria, Malawi, Burundi and Ghana - have pledged around 4,000 troops so far. Somalis are wary of a foreign peacekeeping force following the disastrous U.N. intervention in the early 1990s, a bloody period even by Somali's turbulent history. Somalia has not had an effective national government since 1991, when warlords overthrew dictator Mohamed Siad Barre and then turned on one another, throwing the country into anarchy. The transitional government was formed in 2004 with U.N. help. AP

Malawi has denied agreeing to contribute troops to an African peace force for Somalia - prompting renewed doubts about the viability of the plan. "A decision has not been taken," Malawi President Bingu wa Mutharika said. The 8,000-strong force is to replace withdrawing Ethiopian soldiers, whose intervention in support of the interim government swept Islamists from power. Meanwhile, a protest against their deployment has been held in an ex-Islamist stronghold in the capital. Analysts fear that unless the growing insecurity in the country is contained quickly, Somalia will slip back to the anarchic misrule which has prevailed in the country for the past 16 years. Ethiopia says it is still seeking an early withdrawal, despite slow progress in drumming up enough peacekeepers. Confusion Before this week's summit of African leaders, the AU said it had 4,000 of the 8,000 peacekeepers needed for Somalia. Further public pledges were not forthcoming at the meeting, although there are reports that Burundi has also offered to send troops. So far, Uganda has offered 1,500 troops, subject to parliamentary approval expected next week. Nigeria and Ghana have also both agreed to contribute, although exact numbers are not known. Mr Mutharika, however, denied the AU's assertion that some 1,000 Malawi troops would join the force. "We have not discussed this in the cabinet, neither have we consulted the various state-holders in Malawi like the opposition and others who must be consulted in an issue like this one," he said on Wednesday. In the Somali capital, Mogadishu, the BBC's Mohammed Olad Hassan said some 200 people demonstrated against a peacekeeping force on Thursday morning in the north-east of the city. They shouted angry and slogans and placards read: "We don't want foreign troops" and "Down with Ethiopia". Other have also protested about the detention in Kenya of Islamist financier, Abukar Omar Adan, 72. Meanwhile, the former speaker of the parliament Sharif Hassan Sheikh Adan - sacked two weeks ago - has told the BBC that the election of his successor was illegal. Mr Adan, who is currently in neighbouring Djibouti, was removed for having unauthorised talks with the Islamists, who ruled much of Somalia until last month. He had also opposed Ethiopia's military intervention to help the government drive out the Islamic group. His dismissal was criticised by the United States saying it went against the spirit of reconciliation needed in Somalia and it was likely to have a negative impact on dialogue. Our correspondent says that because of increasing insecurity martial law is being imposed country - putting all powers into the hands of the president for the next three months. BBC

Thursday 1 February 2007. By Ahmed Osman Jan 31, 2007 — Somalia has suffered from civil war, regional insecurity and international interference in the last sixteen years. As Ethiopian troops prepared to withdraw from Somalia, the deputy chairman of the African Union warned that the opportunity to forge a new beginning in the country after years of war and chaos was slipping away. But while the international community argues over whether the entry of an African "stabilisation force" should come before or after the TFG has attracted broader support, Mogadishu is fast becoming more volatile. Somali people enjoying peace and tranquility in the last six months of United Islamic Courts ruling were reminded the rocket propelled mortar. Mr Mazimhaka said there had as yet been no clear commitment from outside the continent to fund an 8,000-strong AU peacekeeping mission. The mission to which only Uganda and Malawi have so far pledged troops is intended to plug the gap once Ethiopia withdraws. Further, the international community must take advantage the recent window of opportunity to help Somalia to govern itself, rejoin the international community, and endure stability for the whole country and to be able to look its future where peace and democracy can flourish in Somalia. Somalia had been unique pastoral democracy in 1960’s before the regime of civilian had been overthrown. International pressure on Somalia’s interim government to include defeated Islamists in talks over the country’s future is paramount and decisive in this crucial moment of Somali history. The US and EU appear to have singled out Sheikh Sheriff Ahmed, one of the main leaders of the Islamic Courts Union (ICU), which held sway over much of southern Somalia last year, as potentially central to the country’s stability in the aftermath of Ethiopia’s invasion last month. European Union foreign ministers offered to provide €15m ($19m, £10m) towards the AU mission, but are insisting the Somali government first forges a more viable alliance from among the warring factions within the country, has to reinstall the sacked Speaker, Sharif, and talks directly to the moderate Islamist. Their primary concern is to prevent Somalia, which has been without a functioning government since the overthrow of Mohammed Siad Barre as president in 1991, evolving into a haven for international terrorist networks amid the chaos of warlord rule. Both the EU and US appear to believe there is an opportunity to drive a wedge between adherents of Somalia’s traditional Sufi Islam, such as Sheikh Sheriff, and jihadist militants influenced by more extreme and puritanical forms of Islam from the Gulf. Michael Rassenberger, the US ambassador to Kenya, took the unusual step of meeting Sheikh Sheriff in Nairobi after he had handed himself into Kenyan custody. Nothing emerged from the talks, but an embassy official said the US believed that if he renounced "violence and extremism", Sheikh Sheriff could provide a "positive contribution to dialogue" in Somalia. In addition, the official said, "They do not believe he is an al-Qaeda operative. They believe he has demonstrated moderate tendencies," . For example, Jendayi Frazer, assistant secretary of state for African affairs said ." The United States believes that the key to long-term stability in Somalia now lies in a process of inclusive dialogue and reconciliation — a Somali to Somali dialogue.” Horn of Africa expert, ICG’s project director David Mozersky , has also emphasized that failure to grasp this opportunity would mean an all-too familiar story line for Somalia of factional fighting and fractured government. The transitional government certainly has to overcome the impression that it is simply a foreign-backed entity. In order to prevent a reversion to the clan-based political divisions and to maintain its political legitimacy, the transitional government needs to engage the primary political actors, including clan leaders, warlords, and, according to Miss Frazer, the moderate elements of the disbanded Islamic Courts Union. Nevertheless, the signs of unwillingness of TFG administration are discouraging so now all the eyes are on warlord Yusuf if he can deliver that or not. Since the government arrived from dusty city of Baidbo to capital city Mogadishu and took the residence of presidency Villa Somalia installed by Ethiopian forces things are getting where it was before 2005. Unless the TFG takes advantage of the recent opportunity and reconcile with Somalis to stabilize the country, will never succeed by the diplomatic shuttling from one country to another or whatever recognition they may gain from international countries. Unpopular government of Ethiopia (EPRDF), who lost the 2005 election, killed hundreds unarmed innocent demonstrators, jailed thousands his own people and refused to solve through dialogue and reconcile with the oppositions are the primary advisers for TFG That is way that the TFG starts instead of reconciliation with Marshal Law, killing, refuse to reconcile, jailing human right activist, shutting the free media and impeaching who ever they thing are against them in the parliament, including the Speaker of the House and disarming by force to create a supremacy of one clan dictatorship in Somalia The one ethic supremacy, dictatorship, and undemocratic government in Ethiopia do not work in Somalia. Somalis has guns and fought for 16th years for democracy, liberty, freedom of speech and fair government. Therefore, unless international and regional government put pressure on the TFG to make inclusive government and withdraw the occupiers forces completely from Somalia and create better environment for peacekeepers that are due to arrive in the country, it does not help to make stable whatever number peace keeps in the ground. In the beginning, Horn of Africa experts thought that a broad consensus is emerging that the primary challenge in stabilising Somalia is a political and the TFG has to create the environment in which peacekeeping can succeed and to do that it has to be in dialogue with the former leaders of the [islamist-backed] courts and the constituencies that supported. The lasting solution of Somali people have to be home grown approach unlike the one is parachuted from sky of Ethiopian style. * The author is a Somali. He can be reached at sharifjaf@yahoo.com Sudan Tribune

Southern Somalis, to me, often sound sincere, suave and affectionate while Northerners sound constipated, narcissistic and unscrupulous. Excluding my family, of course.

AU Summit Concludes With Failure of Raising 8,000 Peacekeepers for Somalia Shabelle Media Network (Mogadishu) NEWS January 31, 2007 Posted to the web January 31, 2007 By Aweys Osman Yusuf Addis Ababa The African Union summit that concluded in the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa on Tuesday has failed to raise the wanted number of peacekeepers for Somalia as Ethiopian troops in the country are leaving. Promises for a peacekeeping force of almost 8,000 have so far raised only half that number, with many countries nervous about committing soldiers to one of the world's most unsafe countries. "If African troops are not in place quickly, then there will be chaos. I call for the mobilization of African troops. We need 8,000 soldiers. Today we have hardly 4,000. We cannot simply wait for others to do the work in our place," said Alpha Oumar Konare, the African Union (AU) commissioner at the summit. Uganda, Nigeria and Malawi, which were the only countries in the continent that contributed troops for Somalia, were supplemented by Burundi during the AU summit. Burundi said it would send 1,000 troops for the peacekeeping mission in Somalia. Somali foreign minister, Ismail Hurra Buab, said he is confident many African countries will follow offering peacekeepers to the strife-torn country. Meles Zenawi, the Ethiopian prime minister, said at the weekend that a third of his forces was withdrawing from Somalia. He called for the first AU troops to be deployed in Somalia by mid-February. The UN secretary general Ban Ki-Moon, who spoke at the meeting on Tuesday, called on the African countries to increase the number of peacekeepers to Somalia. John Kafour, the president of Ghana, who was elected as the African Union chairman, said the peacekeeping mission in Somalia would soon begin. During the meeting in Addis Ababa, Somali president Abdulahi Yusuf promised he would hold a national reconciliation conference in which clans and religious and traditional leaders would take part, so that the EU conditional funding for the African peacekeeping mission to Somalia should be released. Mr. Yusuf told journalists, "Anyone who wants peace is our citizen and we are ready to cooperate." The president did not specifically mention if the routed Islamists would be invited in the reconciliation process. All Africa

An African Union summit aimed at securing troop commitments for a peacekeeping force for Somalia has ended without resolving the issue. Much of the second day of the AU summit was dominated by discussions on the need to urgently raise 8,000 troops. However Ghanaian President and new AU Chairman, John Kufuor, has said that only 4,000 of the required force has been pledged so far. Despite extensive discussions at the summit, the number firmly committed appears not to have increased, although pledges of logistical support have been made. Uganda, Nigeria and Burundi have pledged most of the troops so far, with an unknown number also committed by Ghana and Malawi. Zambia is also considering a contribution. The force is required to fill a vacuum when Ethiopian troops withdraw. Ethiopia, with the tacit support of the US, intervened in the Horn of Africa nation last month in an effort to oust Islamists who had ruled much of Somalia since June 2006. The challenge facing the proposed AU force was underlined yesterday when a series of blasts hit northern areas of the Somali capital Mogadishu. In response, Somali President Abdullahi Yusuf has said his government will shortly call a 'reconciliation conference' of clan, religious and political leaders to discuss the country's future. Europe, the US, the UN and Ethiopia have all called on Mr Yusuf to open up to as many factions as possible, particularly moderate Islamists and powerful clan leaders, in order to stabilise the country. The Somali President said his administration was 'committed to doing whatever is necessary to ensure that a credible and all-inclusive government is set up'. RTE

I watched the video earlier and you could hear the sound of a goat in the background. This could be a hoax of some sort. It could also be part of the propaganda war against the rubbish coming from the likes of Dinari. Either way, I doubt it will achieve anything but add to the excuses of the occupiers to stay even longer.

Why just those two yaa Alle-ubaahne? What about the rest of the dastards?

Originally posted by DigiTalbAct3ria: Some people in the TFG are there only to fill their stomach. If that were their only sin, I'd support the TFG.