sis Hibo its good thread but you haven't specify which one you prefere. i think somalis are good in opposing things but have difficult in suggesting alternatives. its good to mention the cretaria for the new leader but who do you think has that characteristics. it'll be good to mention one or two so we can discuss either agree or disagree with you. now my choice of the new leadership is this; Abdulahi yusuf should be a president as he has some leadership qualities and some backup resources. i beleif if he is chosen for the post i'll give my consent and blessing. i don't beleif though only abdulahi yusuf can solve our leadership problems but team of mixed abilities will work. best wishes

well done everyone involved in this greate institution and congratulate all gratuates. Good news like this from back home is very rare and every bit of it is well received. best wishes

to sayfulaah-almasluul Most of us here don't like the warlords and we would be very thrilled to see them in jail rather than in any position in the government. Having said than some of us are just trying to explore other ways to get rid of them e.g. playing one against other. We can't just sit here and watch warlords and their supporters take the initiatives. So if you have any ideas about how to out-manoeuvre the warlords just toss them in. best wishes

thanks HornAfrique its really the same project and continueing. Its always good to see people back home are doing something for themselves with the help of others. read this artical, its also project for grassroots and its interesting. “Helping communities succeed, helping individuals/groups make a difference!” October 7, 03 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE On October 9, 03, Center for Research and Dialogue (CRD) in partnership with Somali Business Groups / Civil Societies Organizations will launch a new initiative “ Somalia Leadership Foundation” (SLF). FAL-SAN SLF will give away annually over US Dollars 50,000.00 (Fifty Thousand) to selected outstanding individuals and/or groups /organizations throughout Somalia regardless of their area of residences (region), ideological beliefs and clan affiliations. The fundamental objective of SLF is to establish a network that recognizes the role and selfless contributions by individuals and groups who devote their lives, efforts, resources and in an effort to improve lives and safety of Somalis by building substantial peace. http://www.hiiraan.com/htdocs/2003/oct03/crd.htm best wishes

This may not sound very big news but Somali people are realising their potential and the warlords are starting to lose some of their power. Don’t you think that? Read this article and tell me what you think. "Dignity through work" NAIROBI, 6 Oct 2003 (IRIN) - "Restoring dignity through work". This how the International Labour Organisation (ILO) describes a project underway in war-torn Somalia to give residents a feeling of worth and show that there are alternatives to the cycle of violence in which so many people become swept up. The ILO's Promotion of Economic Recovery Project in Somalia (PERPS) began in April 2002 in Hargeysa, capital of the self-declared republic of Somaliland, and has since spread to areas of Puntland and the ravaged capital Mogadishu. http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=37006&SelectRegion=Horn_of_Africa best wishes

Originally posted by HornAfrique: the other want him to become president so he will die in office. Bro what else can we do, surely we don't like the lot and we can't remove them coz they have money, foreign support, guns etc. and they don't care the civilian lives. Allow sahal amuuraha. best wishes

Paltalk you're wrong again There are too many Jews who live in Arab countries and they have the rights that Arabs enjoy. It seems you look things through US/Israel eyes that is why you need to look behind the fox news desks to get real facts of what is happening in Palestine. And arrogance doesn't get you anywhere. Tell me which democracy in the world other than the US that imports people to grab other people's land. The democracy you referring is stage-managed play to pollute your mind and confuse you Israeli Zionism to meaningful democracy. Afghans are given the choice of either chopping a hand or incinerating their families with cluster bombs. As the US is stretched out, isolated and lost in the wind, the Israeli thugs will be weakened and will fall faster than anyone thinks. If you’re fair minded, independent, democrat then you would see things differently but if you keep listening, reading and watching the biased, unbalanced, one-sided fundamentalists Jews and Christian or as they known as neo-conservative rubbish then you never understand the real Israel. best wishes

Originally posted by HornAfrique: but who is to know if it will work since someone is ruthless and adept at staying in power if given any. Walahi no one knows but one thing is sure first he will either kill other warlords or chassed them out of the country, without other warlords lending him a hand, it will be easy to kick him out of office and put him in a prison. Do you know what happen to him first time when he entered in Bosaso. The ordinary people scared him out of the city even his loyal, well paid militia couldn’t defend him. It took at least one year to come back to the city and that is why he has a respect for the ordinary people in Bosaso. Other thing is that he is the oldest and has medical problems so by the help of Allah he won’t be around for long. Last year a friend of mine who is a journalist visited Abdulahi yusuf when he came Europe for his check up. He told me less than one hour of interview Abdulahi yusuf used piles of tablets to keep him functioning so calling him Mr. president may do the trick. If we get intelligent, educated, real politician as a prime minister he can out manoeuvre Mr. yusuf and build a sophisticated network of civilian rule while Abdulahi yusuf spend all his time travelling outside of the country for medical reasons. Bro we have to have different plans and alternatives so we can always have the initiative. best wishes

To Paltalk and the criminals he so passionately supports. Why you're always in the wrong side of morality and support any criminal act that you’re new found home country and its franchised thugs commit without ever giving any consideration to real victims. What Israel is doing is just to create provocations so that the big bully the US will enter the ring and does their war for them. This time the US is in bad shape; isolated and failed in Iraq and Afghanistan. As any criminal country the Israel’s foundation is shaken by native oppositions the people who are the right owners of the Palestine. So what you and others who are partners for criminals can do for Israel is go and fight for them not just insult real victims here.

Originally posted by OG_Girl: originally posted by new nation : But If Abdullahi Yusuf is a Brilliant military man ... he would already be the next Dictator after Barre .. but the thing is he isen´t .. that is he never defended "kismayo" that is why he has Ethiopian soilders ... The only difference between him and others is he used war to get peace. Look what happened when he defeated Jen. Adde musse then he signed peace with him. and other feature for Abdulahi yusuf is most of the time he fights with other politicians and military men not normal people. Sis I never suggested Abdulahi is good man but if we don’t put one warlord against other we don’t have much chance. As Somalis say "ALLOW LABADA DIBI ISKU JABI, OO MID NOO JABI AAN JARJARANEE". When Arta government was set-up all the warlords opposed, now we are in similar process if we don’t play one warlord against other they will do same thing oppose any civilian government. When we have a functioning government, police, courts etc. then we all put in prison. Sis why not anyone put forward someone else other than warlords with proven track record to become the next president of Somalia. The way I see is that we oppose all the warlords and don’t have anyone else to replace. best wishes

Nice story Sujui The reason most of us don’t know about this is we spent or many of us spent large part of our discussion for negative stories. Although I knew from the beginning or the starting of this project and supported all the way financially and morally I never thought the importance of the news or many people will appreciate this kind of news. So next time I have to try to inform others of progress. This is Mogadishu University home page click here http://www.mogadishuuniversity.com/about_mu.htm best wishes

HornAfrique Originally posted by HornAfrique: Abdulahi Yusuf's term as president of the Puntland State of Somalia ran out, and when Jamac Cali Jamac ascended, did Abdulahi Yusuf stepped down as supposed? No, he achieved his current position by the barrel of gun, and you know, and I know, and our brother Smith knows, propaply more than I do. i do agree with you this and i know the man but he has some qualities which is very important for this current situation. One of them is brilliant military man who can easily crash other warlords. The scenario is this Abdullahi yusuf will clean other smaller warlords then we can deal with him if he ever survives from the job. Its like cowboy gangs we ask the strongest to became marshal then when a court is set-up, loyal police come to being and so forth them we let the justice take its place. so let Abdullahi yusuf create his prison and court so we don't need to do all that work for him. What I don’t want to see is what has happened in arta when we supported people who are not warlord but also cant do the job. Now I don’t want to repeat the same mistake twice. I am thinking Lebanon situation when every peace talk failed then the warlord sit and talked then some kind of government was forged. Then the war ended with the help of Syria. Bro I don’t like warlord but where can we find warlord-free leadership. Bro let me ask you do you have any suggestion of any one for presidency that can beat the warlords? Most of democratic non-warlord supports never suggest any alternative. So opposing warlords without alternative is what makes me choose one warlord from other. Best wishes

OG-girl very good you showing ambition but you have a little experience. you definitly lose male vote coz you havent addressed their issues and you also lose female vote again not addressing their real issues. the term "Nayaa" is used some parts of somali as normal pronoun for female so you may offend that part of the country. so give me one good reason why should i vote for you and not others? best wishes

good work sister African. we need some assessment, a mirror if you like. so keep the review going. best wishes

HornAfrique Originally posted by HornAfrique: [QB] The day Abdulahi Yusuf becomes president of Somalia is the day I side with Somaliland on it's seccessionst issues. I though you're Somali nationalist who oppose Somaliland’s secession as principle. What you demonstrating here is classic Somali short sightedness. if Somalis in Kenya with all their different tribes, ideologies, professions etc. agreed someone to lead them, i can't understand why someone who lives the comfort of states with education, freedom, jobs etc. should destroy this very small chance. i am not fan of Abdulahi yusuf but bro his quality as a leader is unmatched and undeniable compared to those who are in the conference. I am convinced that this difficult and challenging time he is the man who could restore peace and stability in the country. if however, someone else other than Abdulahi yusuf is elected i will also support as i did with Abdiqasim. so bro where is your loyalty lie Somalia back on her feet or continued anarchy and destruction? Take your pick? best wishes

Samurai Warrior Nice articles about federalism, which I support anyway, but there are too many unanswered questions about the system. One of them is how can federal system implemented where there is no peace and the local people or local lawful residences where either kicked out of their houses, businesses, their farms or where ruled by gunmen who never let them have peace and stability. This article also posed many questions about federal system then I can ever get answer and its just economic side. Take a look will you and give your opinion. Economic issues: the ticking-bomb for the proposed transitional Somali federation. The current proposed charter, the discussions that are taking place at Mbagathi, as well as the debates at the Somali forums have ignored the economic aspect of the union. Without proper economic union, no political structure, especially one that is as weak as the one that is being contemplated, would survive. In order to have peace and smooth functioning federation, economic responsibility and property rights must be clearly defined. Clear definition of ownership of resources and assets, taxation powers and division of the central government revenues are basic conditions that the charter must address.read more http://www.hiiraan.ca/2003/aug03/op/abdulqafar.htm best wishes

blame game already started. All UK Ministers to Blame for Iraq War, says Cook The entire British government, not just Prime Minister Tony Blair, must take the blame for leading Britain into the disastrous Iraq war, according to former Foreign Secretary Robin Cook. read more http://www.palestinechronicle.com/story.php?sid=20030926165333779 all along we knew bush and blair were liers 'You lied, they died,' US parents tell Bush The father of a soldier killed in Iraq accused President George Bush yesterday of being responsible for his son's death. read more http://www.guardian.co.uk/Iraq/Story/0,2763,1050949,00.html best wishes

Originally posted by rudy: my heart goes to his family and relatives. from what i got from our local news he was a worker 4 for nbc there! i just wonder if african live means anything to these ppl...? we african became the sacrifical lambs in the arab world. please dont say shit happens! they didnt give a damn if nomad gets killed there! Inaa Lilahi Wa Inaa Ilayhi Raajicuun. all our hearts and sympathy goes to his family an relatives. Rudy i think any life lost is tragedy and both Somali or Iraqi death are Muslim deaths. The average Iraqi death is very high and most of us don’t feel bad about it we just caring our fellow country man who happen to be in a war situation. i also don’t think Iraqi people hate somalis, the opposite is true. do you think we are becoming like western people and only count our loss and dont give a damp to other peoples loss? look at the bright side he saved many lives and prevented another UN massacre in iraq. best wishes

the airport will remain operational for another six months Privatise is the appropriate solution to consider. i think limited funding, corruption, no recognition and wrong way of allocating funding may all contributed to this problem. Otherwise how come airports in other parts of Somali ie. Bosaso is up and running without similar fate.

it is difficult to avoid IMF/World bank's money and their dictation to third world countries but if we employ good economists and honest politicians who care their country and eliminate corruption and put the money in good use then we may have a chance to escape the fate of other third world nations who suffered because of IMF/World bank.

Mr Bush's mentor Tony Blair is underfire His presidential style had allowed a "small clique" of unelected advisers to drive Britain into war in the face of widespread public disquiet. by Liberal Democrat leader Charles Kennedy http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/politics/story.jsp?story=446973

paltalk It is sad that you accepted this propaganda. I am not quite sure how you are familiar with the history of the former Iraqi regime. The regime of Saddam Hussein cultivated ties to terror while it built weapons of mass destruction.It used those weapons in acts of mass murder, and refused to account for them when confronted by the world. We have every reason to be alarmed and to asssume the worst from that regime. i can see the hypocrisy of the US here they never come clean of their involvement with that murderer. US armed and supported and treating him as partner when sadam was gassing his people and his neighbours. time solves some questions and assumptions and one of them is Does sadam had WMD at the time of the war. At the moment no prove is at hand and US and cahoots norvously shifting their the reason behind the war. And as a result we adopted pre-emptive strike doctrine to forstall any threat from any nation small or big. We made our policies clear to the world. pre-emptive strike doctrine is unsustainable as your arguement shows. it goes like this iraq posed threat so it must be attacked, while north Korea -known dictator with WMD also threatening the US can not be pre-emptively striked. the apparent reason is that she is much stronger than iraq. this is what Mr Annan said about pre-emptive strike "This logic represents a fundamental challenge to the principles on which, however imperfectly, world peace and stability have rested for the last 58 years. Read more UN loses patience with the American way http://www.guardian.co.uk/international/story/0,3604,1048540,00.html I don't know if you would be able to recall joyfull Iraqi that were showed through internation broad casts when the American tanks entered Baghdad and demolished the Statue of the dictator. of course i saw it and thank god to see the back of that murderer. but what i am against is the notion of when a regime is in line with your foreign policy they are good no matter what they do or how bad they are towards their people or their neighbours. so bro paltalk how you would justify the double standard of your country's foreign policy?

Paltalk welcome to the discussion and i appreciate your comments though i disagree profoundly your point of view. Originally posted by Paltalk: To: New Nation It does not serve our interest to invade Iraq and occupy it. paltalk either you dont listen your country's argument for war or just ignoring it. the fact is that US justified the war on iraq the premises of iraq poses threat to US and her interest in the region. The American government also stands by its commitment to a just peace in the Middle East. do you mean exporting thousand and thousand of weapon in the region. Whenever I heard just peace from US politicians and alike, the word Palestine comes to my mind. is it "just" to arm one side at the expenses of the other side. Maybe paltalk the "just peace" you and the US is advocating is the one that the native Indians know too well or black Americans experienced it. if we want to talk about "just peace" we need to start what caused the violence in the first place. We stand for the permanent hopes of humanity, and those hopes will not be denied. We're confident, too, that history has an author who fills time and eternity with his purpose. nice words bro but nothing to do with the reality though. the only hope for the humanity as a whole is their creator who knows what is good for them and what is bad. Nations have different hopes and inspirations. i can see your arrogance here, how can a young nation like the US, founded on illegal bases ie. ethnic cleansing of indigenous people, enslaved follow human being, attacked half of the world when they cant persuade to accept their dictate, become hope for the humanity? bro you have to do more explanations here. We know that evil is real, but good will prevail against it. i totally agree with you this statement and any sane person will do just that but where we have disagreement is who is evil and who is good. if the US thinks any country or person that disagrees with them in any issue as evil than we have a very big problem here. US cant be Judge, the Jury and the prosecutor at the same time. if the US wants to provide a simple solution to the most difficult problems in the world they will end up, like many other nations before them, fall for their sheer arrogance and bloody mindedness. This is the teaching of many faiths, and in that assurance we gain strength for a long journey. We will promote peace and freedom now matter what it takes. also many faiths teach non aggression towards your fellow human beings who are weaker than you. Promoting peace needs winning the argument. US needs to convince people that they are the policemen, international judge and prosecutor of the world. if they win that argument then i will agree with you entirely you're weak argument and will open my mind to accept any crap you intend to store in it. these daily attacks in Iraq will not undermine our efforts to help those who are aflicted by the process of removing the oppressive regime. any life lost in iraq or any where else is tragedy and no exception. i happy to see the back of sadam's regime but not certainly happy to see new oppressors ie. US and UK. iraqi people should govern themselves the way they do it is their business and no one else. paltalk just interest to know who will be your next victim Syria, Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Iran etc? or Somalia that need peace more than any other nation in the world at the moment or they cant fit in your unholy list of victims or she is too hot to handle it. or this statement of yours " We will promote peace and freedom now matter what it takes" do not apply to them. best wishes

Jidaawi how do you guys feel when the US media brands the Iraqi resistance to the occupation to be some “terrorist backed by Al qaida” ? its just smokescrean of the reality. the US media is notorious about miss-information, lie and over simplification of complex issues. their stories always presented as good guys ie. US and her allies vs. bad guys ie. always her victims, this time happend to be the iraqi people. so it makes me angry about all affairs and growing mistrust of all thinks US and britain. best wishes

this is one way of incurring the cost of the iraqi war! Iraq adopts sweeping economic reforms The American-backed administration in Iraq has announced sweeping economic reforms, including the sale of all state industries except for oil. But the BBC's Nick Springate, in Baghdad, says many ordinary Iraqis will see the moves as a big sell-off with predominantly multi-national, American companies viewed as getting "rewards". read more here http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/3126522.stm or this one America puts Iraq up for sale http://news.independent.co.uk/world/middle_east/story.jsp?story=445744 its simple economics isn't it? this is another development, muslims in britian are panishing their government for what they have done to iraqi people. Muslims instrumental in shock Lib-Dem victory In what was described as a ‘shock result’, Sarah Teather, the Liberal Democratic candidate for the Brent East By-Elections managed to overturn a Labour majority of 13,000 and grab the constituency seat, with the backing of the vast local Muslim Community. read more here http://www.mabonline.net/media/news/articles/uk2003/brenteast20.htm best wishes