Carafaat - waxay kaga dhegtay federalism. What is so inherently bad about federalism that dozens of countries and regions before us have found? What is the difference between the decentralization you favour and federalism? What does it matter if certain clans predominate in certain areas as long as everyone has the same rights - ie your obsession with 'clan' federalism? You sound like a broken record.

Let's not devolve this to usual skirmishing re Somaliland and secession.

^Why did the stocks get hit though - were there whispers of something huge coming out? Or had the companies hyped the results that would be found? The market reaction made it seem as if nothing much was found.

BN;832028 wrote: Goods from Dubai kulahaa. We all know nothing is made in Dubai; it's only a transit point. As business people - who have been trading with the Indians and Chinese for hundreds of years, why don't Somalis go directly to the source and cut out the middlemen? Dubai is retail; we need whole sale purchasing. You're not gonna get Chinese and the Indians to ship directly to you in Somalia - their shipping firms have no experience or history in the country. It's ok if Dubai gets a little kickback - we've certainly prospered from our relationship with them.

^Clan Y has no incentive to do that if they are getting the same treatment and allocation of resources as everyone else and if they've reached an understanding of the basis of governance with all other clans/stakeholders. If you believe that Somalis can ensure a free and fair vote as in Somaliland - I don't understand why you think they're incapable of having a system that has been tried and tested in many countries and that has served them well.

Up to 280 million barrels from these 2 wells isn't a huge find. Will these tests allow them to extrapolate reserves for the whole Dharoor block? Presumably a big find in the range of a billion + barrels would have spurred more interest and financing that would be boon for these companies and this region,

Good on him for his accomplishments but talking about money and things (and mentioning how expensive they are) is always in poor taste in my opinion.

Lawrence Solomon May 18, 2012 – 9:47 PM ET | in small states based on their autonomous/independent regions, and not just in a greater Somalia that history shows has not been all that great. What is wrong with this if it brings peace, prosperity and in no way limits the movement of people.Instead of spewing nationalist stuff which very often is code word for special interests,i.e some who don't want otha region be independent purely for clannish reasons. 1- There is a big difference between autonomy and independant. 2- Greater Somalia was about the Og*den and NFD territories and was not the union that happened in 1960 - so the claim that greater Somalia was not great doesn't even apply. 3- He is arrogant and condescending. Whatever forms of government Somalis choose will be upto them - and suggestions by outsiders who have an axe to grind are not accepted. 4- This is not about nationalism and no one is spewing natiionalist stuff. The reality is that most parts of the world realize that there is strength in economic and military groupings ie EU, NATO - and here some of us are thinking small indeed.

^What is being forced on whom? Faroole and PL have stated what powers they would like to retain as part of a federal Somalia. Those powers would also accrue to other federal states within Somalia. What they 'get' everyone else will get so I don't understand this force business and claims about unfairness and 'shame'. BTW - ciddi Xamar wili rabto in totally laga mamula after everything - ayaday jirta. Those folks can have that if they still want while allowing other regions more autonomy.

^Whoever wants to be ruled from Xamar let them - whoever wants to retain autonomy and manage their own affairs within the larger country - let them. Wax la isku wareeriyo majirto. Faroole isn't the only spoiler. I wonder what merits special attention on him. Why is there somalinimo and wadaninimo expected from him when no one else has shown any? It doesn't matter anyway - this constitution will get passed.

I urge folks to comment on his page!

Lawrence Solomon: Occupy Somalia Lawrence Solomon May 18, 2012 – 9:47 PM ET | Last Updated: May 19, 2012 1:21 AM ET Best hope for peace is for UN to break up the country The EU Naval Force made headlines this week by blasting a pirate base on Somali shores and pirate ships out of Somali waters. The well-publicized and logical rationale for the navy’s aggressive new stance: Somali piracy costs the world economy an estimated US$7-billion a year. An unpublicized and equally logical reason for this action: On Somali land and under the waters now frequented by Somali pirates lies oil wealth that could rival Kuwait’s. Many oil companies are manoeuvring for a part of this potential oil bonanza — they include firms from China, Australia, the U.S. and Canada, which are already engaged in drilling — but the inside track may be held by British Petroleum and the UK, which has a long history of resource extraction in both Africa and the Middle East. In recent months, British foreign secretary William Hague visited Mogadishu, the Somali capital, for talks on “the beginnings of an opportunity” to rebuild the country and British Prime Minster David Cameron hosted an international summit on Somalia attended by 55 delegations, including a U.S. contingent led by Secretary of State Hilary Clinton. “There’s room for everybody when this country gets back on its feet and is ready for investment,” said Somali Prime Minister Abdiweli Mohamed Ali after the conference, in offering a share of oil and other natural resources in return for help with reconstruction. “What we need is capital from countries like the UK to invest. If the private sector can come in and do the work, then we welcome them.” But just who are the “we” Prime Minister Ali refers to? He heads the civil-war-wracked country’s transitional government which was installed in Somalia a decade ago by Western powers, which proved so unpopular that it soon needed an invasion by U.S. backed Ethiopian troops to remain in power, which relies for its continuance on U.S. drone strikes on the militants’ stronghold in the south of the country, and whose mandate expires in August of this year. Not that the transitional government isn’t an improvement over the anarchy that reigned in the decades prior to its installation — Somalia, best known to many for Black Hawk Down, is the poster child of the failed state. Soon after it attained the status of a state in 1960 after a period of British and Italian rule, this anarchic country of warlords, of four major clans and several smaller ones, fell victim to a military strongman who imposed a Marxist government that ruined the economy. Somalia is today a hotbed of piracy and al-Qaeda-linked terrorists; a country that over the last two decades has endured near-continual war causing hundreds of thousands to die from violence and starvation, and a million to flee to other lands; a country of the impoverished, almost half of whom live on less than $1 a day. In the absence of good governance, any attempt to divide Somalia’s wealth among BP, Shell, and the other large and small players that are jockeying for position is likely to spell doom, particularly now that the stakes have been raised. Rather than maintaining the pretence that Somalia rates status as a sovereign country — it is in fact comprised of several autonomous regions — the Somali people would be best served by reverting to the only system in the region’s recent history that saw relative peace and prosperity — when order was imposed by colonial powers acting under the authority of the United Nations. The post-Second World War protectorate of British Somaliland and the trust territory of Italian Somaliland fared relatively well until in 1960 these areas merged to become a greater Somali Republic. Had these Western powers continued to rule and to develop the Somali territories, untold suffering would have been averted and Somalis would have been better prepared for ultimate self-rule, as occurred especially with former British colonies that enjoyed longer colonial rule, such as India, Malaysia and Hong Kong. Today’s status quo — a U.S.-imposed government sustained by foreign troops bolstered by commando EU raids on pirates — is no way to run a country. Neither is it an option for the West to wash its hands of the anarchy. Into the vacuum that its departure would create could come Russia or China, countries with a poor history of governance. Better for the UN to step into this breach — this is one of the purposes for which it was formed — and when it next becomes time to relinquish rule in the Somali territories, their peoples through referendums should have viable options to live apart, in small states based on their autonomous regions, and not just in a greater Somalia that history shows has not been all that great. Financial Post LawrenceSolomon@nextcity.com Lawrence Solomon is executive director of Energy Probe. http://opinion.financialpost.com/2012/05/18/lawrence-solomon-occupy-somalia/

GaroweGal;831271 wrote: Despite the nice building the place still looks like a dry place. Can't see myself living in a place like that. But well done to the people laakiin, keep up the good work. You know Garowe is not exactly the Amazon jungle.

Abu-Salman;831216 wrote: Haramouss, the booming upscale neighborhood where pres. Guelleh resides; both flats and villas are being developped: Not bad. How much are these villas? Better than anything I've seen in Somalia - it looks very much like the ones getting built in Dubai. Where's the money coming from for all this consumption? I know there is more activity in the country due to Americans and others setting up shop but is there much of non-government/non-military economy? PS - Abu - if you ever make it to Dikhil - take a few photos - I was born there.

I think TFG wants to win the propaganda war and will accept these types of defecations and publicize them. It's in the interests of the country at this stage too.

Would be nice if they provided a timetable for the release of hard data - July 1st maybe?

Everyone fights for their own interests - but Faroole has no inkling of subtlety. If he was more diplomatic and behind the scenes he could get a lot more done.

^Hehe - dagaal ba ka radinaysaa! Federalism is about a model where people agree to govern themselves on a set of shared principles. The problem isn't clannism or people having different clans, sub-clans etc but there are no or few shared principles. Added to shared principles is a legitimate, transparent and fair political process. If tuulo hebel is assured of funding and tax money regardless of who is in power - they are less likely to listen to their local caloosha u shaqaysteyal campaign, using a clannish prism, on their local grievances. It's time to move on from simple formulations for a future Somali state.

^Good to hear Blessed. Inshallah Khayr baa so socda then.

^Anything for a change of face eh? No way to know these young guns don't have the inner 'soul' of the elder politicians!

^This is what Somali websites do - they take random pics and post them as belonging to a particular story. However - the cambe is in the video which I assume you didn't watch. You can watch it directly here: We can all have our cambe and eat it too.

nuune;830890 wrote: Thanks for that Complicated. As of now, so many people are returning from the diaspora, heard in Mogadishu, the demand for hotels has skyrocketed that you can't even find a place to stay one night, even for $150, this has prompted a niche market in the hospitality sector, as of now, I know 2 Western owned hospitality companies are in negotiating to get a land to build 200-350 room hotel each, what these greedy western companies will charge would be so expensive and people have no choice except to pay! anyone!! What happened to the Somalis and their entrepreneurship? They are building towering hotels in cramped Islii - can't be hard to build in Xamar although title to property is an issue.

Interesting. Is that lapel pin photoshopped? It doesn't quite look right.

Already posted by the crazy doctor. Good stuff to see though. And this is not poltical unless we want to politicize even mangoes.

^Walaal - you're talking about the ideal situation. We don't have it. I wish it were the case. Runtii -wadaninimo everyone baa loga bahanyahay not least the head of state who didn't until a short time ago visit this peaceful region of the country he heads. I haven't seen wadaninimo in any Somali politicans and to be frank - Faroole doesn't have the temperament or statesmanship required for it. Wax waliba sharci bay leeyihiin but I would caution against, even where that sharci is overstepped, making references to 'maamulkaasi wali Somaliya ka mid yahay'. If they haven't rejected Somalia - I don't see why you should rush to remove them from the Somali body politic.