All of the warlords have destroyed Somalia but it seems Qanyare is the number one back-stabber and is the leader of the gang! Right! this time it could be his demise! Inshallah! the warlords will be defeated and Somalis in Mogadishu will be free of the shackles of warlordism and senseless violence. People are fed up with these ruthless warlords.

The options are out there....for all the Xaliimos unhappy and disappointed with skinny Faaraxs... There are non-somali ,non-faarax men out there who are physically strong,rich, educated, ..... go for it .....

Qanyar, Qaybdiid, Bashiir Raaghe, Muuse Sudi , Xaaraan ku naax, are on CIA payroll and have been lucratively paid to hunt down all somali religious men with beards. Ilaahoow Qanyare naga qabo. This warlord who had wrecked havoc in mogadisho for 15 years and who benefited from the chaos and misery of the capital has now started a new religious war. Mogadishu residents were busy raising funds for their starving brothers and sisters for the last week, now they are burying their dead and fleeing their homes thanks to a new crusade Qanyare launched against the Islamic courts. This maniac is a somali maverick mafioso. I ewish the islamists will capture his airport and kill him and other warlords.

Every chubby fat-bootied Xaliimo dreams of being with a Faarax whose passion is so intense and body is so strong that he can last and last in ...you know what I mean here . And faaraxs are falling victim to this Xallimo demand and dream. Every Skinny Faarax wants to be able to fulfill those dreams. Every Skinny Faarax I know is in gym not for basketball but for working out and when you ask why, most Faaraxs will tell you so straightforward, they doing this because their chubby Xaliimoos are demanding this.Faarax will tell you Xaliimos are into Gangs and Gorillas. Faarax wants to know that he can fullfill these demands and have that passion for as long as he wishes. It certainly sounds Skinny Faaraxs are on mission to please his Xaliimos, but is it possible? Faarax is genetically created to be slim and skinny. His strength is not physical. The mascular strong men that Faarax sees in the gym bumping weights and working out seem to lack what Faarax already got... Faaxar has his manly man equipment functioning naturally. Steroids and other chemical supplements and posion. Faarax is buying will actually not lead to having bigger muscles and may shrink the main masculine muscle Faarax got. So what should Faarax do? learn Yoga and join the feminine folks and the gays?

As for Xamar Cadeey - it is the biggest and most important city in Somalia. Mogadishu is Somalia and Somalia is Mogadishu. If we need to have a lasting peace and reconcilliation...we have to fix the problems of the capital city and it is the government who has to take the lead here and not run away FROM its duties. Some of us, here in the Diaspora who happen to hail from other regions maybe biased but as someone who was born and bred in Xamar...and who have visited there three times in the last 7 years, I know the majority of the Mogadishu people are very sincere in their search for peace and stability.

MMA This is CULUSO - who was the mnister of Agriculture back then in Siad Barre's cabinet. He is a very experienced financial technocrat. Maybe you are confusing him with another Culuso ... He helds many degrees from many european and american universities and has worked with world bank and IMF.... I know this guy for he was my brother's neighbor in Circolo Officiale area. Kun aa ka daba nageeneeysid asaa ka heer sareeya laakiin isku qolo maahidiin marka inaad xaqoiraad saas ah oo caadifad qabiil ku saleeysan meesha keentid waa nasiib xumo

http://www.eastandard.net/archives/cl/hm_news/news.php?articleid=36023&date=6/02/2006 Somalia’ problems will not end with Parliament running away from Mogadishu to smaller towns To revive the Somali peace process, the first in-country session of Parliament is planned to take place on February 26th in Baidoa, 250km south west of Mogadishu, the capital. This looks like good news until one considers the implications. The change of the temporary seat of the Transitional Federal Government (TFG) from Jowhar to Baidoa could open the door for contest by other towns for the mobile seat of government. This sets dangerous precedent that could undermine the legitimacy of leadership and more divisions. From the onset, the interim leadership was expected to adhere strictly to the reconciliation Charter during the transition period, climaxing in democratic parliamentary elections. When President Abdullahi and Speaker Sharif Hassan were elected, donor countries said that they would only recognize if the TFG operated from Mogadishu. On December 29, 2004, a group of intellectuals concerned about the extended presence of Somali government in Kenya wrote to the Prime Minister, Mohammed Ghedi, pointing out that government relocation was not only a security issue, but also a political. They suggested means of speeding up the relocation from Nairobi to Mogadishu. This raised debate, which encouraged the group to organise a five-day meeting from December 30, 2004 to January 4, 2005 in Nairobi. Following the discussion, the group wrote to the President, the Speaker and the Prime Minister, recommending gradual relocation of the government to Mogadishu. They suggested that the President, Speaker and Prime Minister launch an organised political and public relations campaign by engaging MPs, prominent political leaders, warlords, civil society, traditional leaders, business and religious communities to secure public support and international assistance. Unfortunately, the government opted for another route to the provincial city of Jowhar. What is surprising is that some leaders want security guarantee in Mogadishu when the masses have been living in insecurity for 15 years. Before the collapse of the Somali State in 1991, the country was divided into 18 regions and 92 districts. Today, we have Somaliland and Puntland administrations and Southern regions. The country is awash with arms in the hands of militias and criminals because of the anarchic situation that persisted for so long. In addition to the physical destruction of infrastructures, the civil war and poverty, Somalia is literally in a shambles as a country. To restore order requires national vision and well-developed political strategy that attracts both domestic and international support. Some of the advantages of relocating the government to Mogadishu – apart from adhering to the Charter- include the consolidation of political reconciliation, speeding up diplomatic and financial support by the international community, higher potential revenue generation for the government, avoidance of duplication of costs for startup operations. Others are availability of sufficient public utility premises, including access to seaports and airports, increase public trust in government commitment to share burden with the people and implementation of immediate tasks in the Charter. Another encouraging fact is that Mogadishu is the only place in the country where, despite all security concerns, opposing groups and views coexist with relative peace and freedom of expression flourishes. In other cities, the government will be a guest of one sub clan or one or group of warlords that would control it. This is unlike Mogadishu where MPs criticize warlords and do not pander to their whims. About two million people are living in Mogadishu. Moreover, the majority of the estimated 350,000 internally displaced people and 50 percent of Militias are in Mogadishu. Therefore, Mogadishu is where the priorities of TFG are. This is why I believe that avoiding Mogadishu will create new problems and undermine TFG’s legitimacy of having control over the country in the foreseeable future. Mohamud Uluso is a former Cabinet Minister and Governor of Central Bank of Somalia Email: mmuluso@yahoo.com

Aden Declaration is good for Somalia’s peace quest, But lacks basics to unite warring groups Peace Talks - Mohamud Uluso – the Writer is a former Cabinet Minister and Governor Central Bank of Somalia Public reactions to the Aden declaration by President Abdullahi Yusuf of Somalia and Speaker Sharif Hassan of Somalia on January 5 in Aden, Yemen, were varied. Some hailed it as step forward, while others felt it as a move that shattered chances of resolving the stalemate stalking the Somali government. The recognition of the primary importance of the national interest and respect of the provisions of the Transitional Federal Charter are the main positive elements in the declaration. However, it failed to address the central issues that caused the TFG split in the first place, namely the seat of the government and the deployment of peacekeeping forces in Somalia. It also provided little guide for solving these issues. In addition to the initial issues that paralysed the government, recent unilateral actions of Jowhar group worsened the situation. These included the appointment of new State and deputy ministers, ambassadors and other officials, the promotion of top police and military officials and the recruitment of militias in various parts of the country. Others are the joining of Somalia to Sanaa Forum, the signing of many international agreements, the implementation of the Joint Needs Assessment, the formation of Mogadishu administration, the implementation of development projects in Jowhar, the disbursement of funds from donors. Last year, the President Yusuf rejected the mediation of the Special Representative of UN Secretary General- Kofi Annan-, while the Speaker Sharif supported it. Now the President and the Speaker have accepted the mediation of President Ali Abdalla Saleh of Yemen. It difficult to tell the reasons for the change of heart, but what’s clear it that the two leaders are giving national unity a chance. Nonetheless, the venue, format and the agendas of talks between the President and Speaker were not debated in advance, especially within Mogadishu group and this could undermine the trust that existed between the Speaker and his group. With the events in Yemen, new alliances are likely to be formed and the political game prolonged with no clear winners and losers. The Speaker gained more support and trust among Members of Parliament and the Somali people because he stuck with the Charter and acted to protect national interest, but that was then. The Aden Declaration has serious implications that deserve comment. On one hand, it is a victory for the President and Government of Yemen for a number of reasons. One, it neutralizes previous accusations by the Mogadishu group, including the Speaker against Yemen over alleged interference and partiality in the Somali conflict. Two, it legitimizes the increase of Yemen support to President Yusuf. Three, it deflects the UN’s anger against Yemen with regard to breaking the arms embargo resolution by supplying arms to President Yusuf. Four, it reverses the previous failure of President Saleh’s mediation between the Somali President and Speaker. Five, it enhances Sanaa Forum’s purpose and performance. The irony is, Somalia joined the Forum without adopting the necessary legal framework in accordance with the Transitional Federal Charter. As an extension, it seems that the Somali peace process is now shifted to the Sanaa Forum represented by Yemen and away from UN and Igad umbrella. On the other hand, the Aden Declaration is a victory for Italian government efforts to make the Mogadishu group irrelevant. The Italian news agency (Ansa) hailed the Aden declaration as “defeat of Mogadishu warlords since the Speaker switched to the side of President Abdullahi.†The agency alleged that President Abdullahi will receive formal recognition and massive foreign assistance following the defection of the Speaker Sharif, who was a political cover for Mogadishu warlords. The Aden Declaration coincides with the trip of the Italian Deputy Foreign Affairs Minister, Alfredo Mantica, to Ethiopia and Jowhar. Mantica was quoted as saying that the Aden Declaration “had concluded†the Somali peace process that started in October 2002. He added that the international community had endorsed the Italian position of favouring public institutions over political representation and the principles of reconciliation. The agency hinted that Parliament would be convened at Baidoa on clan swap strategy– though Mogadishu, |Jowhar and Kismayu had been chosen earlier. Those opposed to Mogadishu claim that it is not safe. I am sure the Aden Declaration will present new developments that are difficult to fathom, at least for now.

All the three Somalia’s topmost buffoons are now in Nairobi: warlord Yeey, his underling Ghedi and the Hon. Sharif. So are the lesser clowns Aideed Jr & Mohammed Dhere and punch of Qat-chewing illiterate parliamentarians. His message to Zenawi was that capital and clout are not his lot unless the Tigre's back him up money-wise. Zenawi couldn’t bestow him any guarantee of funding. Yeey lamented to his close interlocutors that his future exploits are disaster-prone. The proposal coming from the Mog camp is to hold the parliament session in Nairobi. In addition they would like Ghedi & Jurille to be ousted.

Lessons from Somalia January 16 2006 ON December 2, 2005, His Excellency Eng. Hussein Mohammad Farah Aideed, deputy prime minister (politics and security), minister of interior, Transitional Federal Government of the Somali Republic, called, by appointment, on India’s high commissioner in Nairobi, Surendra Kumar. He was dressed in a dark blue suit, tie and leather-strap sandals. The ‘Eng.’ before his name was similar to ‘Dr’: Engineers now like to be known that they are thus qualified. In Somalia the preferred title of Hussein Aideed is ‘General’, a claim by hereditary right. His father, General Mohammad Farah Aideed, became the world’s most famous warlord, immortal in local lore and deified by Hollywood, when, in 1993, he broke American will by downing two Black Hawk helicopters and killing 18 American Marines whose bodies were dragged through the streets of Mogadishu, capital of Somalia. A reward of a million dollars was placed on his head, and he was nicknamed, for some obscure reason, Yogi the Bear. The father did not die in an American prison, but in his own city. His son was living in America, and had trained to become a reserve Marine. When his father died, he returned to Somalia to inherit the title and the loyalty of his father’s militia, though not the respect that his father commanded. Neither father nor son believed that the term "warlord" was appropriate. Aideed means "one who rejects insults". He seemed sincere, said ambassador Kumar. Hussein Aideed promised peace would finally come to Somalia in about six months, thanks to the latest deal brokered by mostly well-meaning (or simply fed-up) neighbours. He asked for Indian assistance in demining southern Somalia, building roads, assisting in healthcare and training the police. Uniforms and guns for the police would not be unwelcome. Since there is nothing called a police force in Somalia at the moment, perhaps Hussein Aideed wanted arms and training for his own force. Kumar was diplomatic in his response; the visitor’s charm was not sufficient to reduce the host’s scepticism. The news is that India is not in any hurry to arm and train anyone, or rebuild roads, which are controlled by AK-47-wielding bands who laugh as they collect their tax on any vehicle brave enough, or desperate enough, to travel. The government of Hussein Aideed used to be based in Nairobi until the Kenyans exhausted their patience and told them to go. Somalia is not a country in search of a government. It is a government in search of a country. From the air, Mogadishu is entrancing, lean and stretched out against the Indian Ocean, a city of two million in a country of seven. It begins in the greenery of banana trees in the south, curves along the pristine beaches untouched by the large waves that break much before the shore. The city ends where the sand rises to cliff height in the north before spreading into the arid and endless desert. We flew into an airport in the north on Saturday in a Red Cross plane. The Red Cross is now the only international organisation with a national presence in Somalia, working to bring a touch of contemporary concern to a land that has been driven back into a pre-industrial past by criminal greed and mindless violence. The breeze cools the midday sunshine and throws sand into our eyes as step off. The airport was built by Osman Hassan Ali Atto, warlord and politician, to ferry khat, a local nerve-soother. When the international airport closed down, its fortunes boomed. Wisely, Mr Atto decided to share such fortunes with a fellow warlord. The commerce is limited but it is a commercial hub of sorts. In 1998, two Red Cross officials disembarked at this airport from a similar plane and wandered off to answer a call of nature behind a nearby sand dune, a reasonable need after a two-and-a-half hour flight. They were lucky. The rest of the group was kidnapped by gunmen who appeared over a small hill, and held hostage for 10 days. Somalia is now one of two regions where the Red Cross uses armed guards, rather than the humanitarian credibility that keeps it safe elsewhere. The only other place is Chechnya. There are three structures at this airstrip, nearly indistinguishable from the colour of the surrounding desert. The first, about 10 feet wide with a sloping tin roof, is both the cafeteria and the bank: you can get a soft drink while you change foreign exchange for Somali shillings. There was a time when a dollar fetched 30,000 shillings, but the rate has stabilised at 15,000. Warlords print the Somali currency. There is an advertisement of a cellphone company on the second hut, which is possibly an office. The third structure on an airstrip devoid of any human habitation for miles is a mosque, an Ottoman crescent atop its minaret. A small craft of Aviation Sans Frontieres is waiting to take off when we land: the two NGO planes constitute the business of the day. A man near the tarmac with a cap, a piece of cloth wrapped around both ears, a football-referee whistle in one hand and a tasbeeh (prayer beads) in the other is the air traffic clearance authority. Each item has a function. The cap is for the sun. The cloth is for the sand. He keeps in touch with the pilot with the whistle. He keeps in touch with God with the prayer beads. Our plane is refuelled while we wait. Three skinny, industrious men, two of them in the trademark lungi, kick-roll dented drums from a Dyna 350 semi towards the plane. A wheelbarrow, carrying a hose and a small engine, accompanies them. The drums contain the fuel. Each is opened, with some effort, by a metal strip that fits into a groove in the cap and twists the cap around. On end of the hose goes into the drum, the other into the plane. The engine is pulled into a gurgle. Oil begins to flow up. They travel about a hundred metres or more ahead, obscured by a windscreen of powdery desert dust: nine men on the back of a powerful Toyota, their legs dangling over the side, each with an AK-47 of varying power, and enough ammunition to start a small war. In the centre is a mounted heavy machine-gun, manned by a burly brother in a bandana, with don’t-fool-with-me in his eyes and a pistol in his belt. In local parlance, they constitute a "technical". No self-respecting warlord travels with less than four "technicals". Since this one has been hired to protect us, I suppose this ‘technical’ is on the side of the angels, but loyalties are variable in a cash-and-carry business. We drive over sand and rock towards the world’s largest, or perhaps only, ghost city. An occasional man sleeps under a desert shrub. Lonely men squat on the edge of the track, waiting for nothing, their faces drained of all expectation. Women, in rare ones or twos, are defined by the bright colours of their dress, principally a dramatic red interspersed by a soothing yellow. The rest is silence in a vast emptiness, broken only by the periodic and minimal radio exchanges between our SUV and our "technical". Suddenly, to our left, appears a huge scrapyard, a crazy museum of twisted, shattered metal, carcasses of cars, machines, yesterday’s homes, anything that could be pillaged. It is owned by Bashir Raghe, a warlord. A minute later we see a large ship sitting impassively offshore. This is the scrap metal trade, a lucrative byproduct of a destruction-economy, and yet another fortune for warlords to kill over. "Do you know where the scrap is headed?" asks a friend whom I shall leave unnamed. I don’t. To India. To the right, in another minute, is what seems to be a mirage: a pink villa from an Italian seashore. Who lives there? A businessman. What is his business? He owns a bone factory. A destruction-economy has more than one byproduct. So far, I note, I have seen seven beneficiaries of this economy: the warlords; Japanese vehicle manufacturers (all registrations in Dubai or Sharjah); the Russian armaments industry; Belgian pistol-makers; telecommunications equipment makers; shipowners and Indian scrap merchants. Add an eighth, I am told. Coca-Cola. There is a flourishing Coca-Cola factory in the south of the city. Life goes better with Coca-Cola, particularly amidst death. The first sight of Mogadishu is unreal. It is like seeing ruins from the wrong end of time. The jagged edges of Rome’s or Amman’s amphitheatre symbolise the achievements of 2,000 years ago. In Mogadishu, you see the ruins of a flourishing 20th century city in an environment that has regressed 2,000 years. Only a few of the shell-shocked homes seem inhabited; strangely there is utter silence even among the sparse patches of life. I am given a guided tour of devastation: here what was once an enclave of diplomatic homes or an embassy row during the era of the Soviet-supported President Siad Barre, there nothing where once the Indian embassy existed. Every hundred paces is dull repetition of what used to be. The true sadness of Mogadishu is not what it has become, but what it once was, and what it could have been. The radio crackles. We cannot go to the Italian cathedral built when they colonised this part of Somalia. The "technical" has reported that a gunbattle is going on in front of the cathedral. And so, without any fuss, we turn left a little before the gunbattle and drive into what was once the pride of the city: the main street, full of banks, businesses, government offices, cars, pedestrians, restaurants, bars and hotels. The street ends at the embankment. A majestic hotel sweeps in a classic Italian curve to our left, architecture that once hummed to the music of hundreds of rooms. It has now been blasted apart, shattered by tank battles that destroyed this street and city. We get off at the embankment, which is broken at one place leaving a large gap. One tank, unable to brake, crashed through at this point. The tank lies on the rocks of the ocean shore, rusted, its turret tilted up, still searching for an enemy of the same colour and blood. It is as distressing a memory as the Fascist pillar nearby that has survived on the promenade from the time of Mussolini. We are at the Hammaruin. We change guard. Literally. Our gunmen are all smiles as they wave goodbye; their replacements smile more broadly as they welcome us. But they don’t smile at one another. This is the dividing line between the north and south of Mogadishu. Militia from the north cannot enter the south, and naturally vice versa. In the ocean, a handful of children chatter and skip over the rocks, the shallow water being their only entertainment. On the street, young men with nothing to do but clutch triggers at their nerve-ends watch as we switch vehicles and guards. A gun is part of the normal dress code of normal young men. Engineer Hussein Aideed, leader of the United Somali Congress/Somali National Alliance, is yet to reach middle age. His mother, Asli Dhubat, his father’s first wife, took him to the United States as a teenager. He joined the US Marine Corps Reserves in 1987, became a corporal and told the Associated Press in Somalia: "Once a Marine, always a Marine". He has, he believes, a wonderful idea for Somalia’s future. There are no passports in Somalia; even Kenya does not recognise a warlord passport any more. Hussein Aideed told ambassador Surendra Kumar that he was negotiating with an Indian IT company to create e-passports. The cost was estimated at $25 million. He had worked it out. An account would be opened in a prestigious international bank; 80 per cent of the passport fee deposited in this account would go to pay for the initial cost and 20 per cent would be sent on to Somalia. This would eventually pay the $25 million. It seems a great idea for California. M. J. Akbar is Editor-in-Chief of the Asian Age and Deccan Chronicle newspapers. He can be reached at mjakbar@asianage.com

Faith fills vacuum in land of clans The Asian Age India | M.J. Akbar reports from Somalia Mogadishu: Fear is rational. As long as one is anonymous death can only be an accident. It is superfluous to fear an accident in a minefield: the mine has nothing personal against you. It became different when my friend said, while we were dining on the terrace of the Shamo Hotel and Residence Plaza, a heavenly breeze blowing from the Indian Ocean, the stars of the southern hemisphere dominated by Mars to my left and the Orion belt to the right of my occasional gaze: "This is an oral society." We were at the hotel where a few months ago Kate Peyton of the BBC had been shot dead. So far, I felt far more protected by anonymity than the "technicals". The Red Cross does not advertise its travel plans. Unlike the United Nations (when it is around, and it disappeared from Somalia in March 1995), which believes in the power of the press release, the Red Cross appreciates the virtues of silence. But by now word would have spread that a journalist was in tow: this is an oral society. A big boy might want to know why he had not been lined up for an interview. Press coverage is good for the self-esteem of a warlord trying very hard to look like a peacelord. Kate Peyton made a number of mistakes. The crucial one was that she walked out of the single entrance-exit, across the compound and out of the gate to get into a car that was meant to take her to the Sahafi Hotel (Journalists' Hotel, so named in honour of the media flock that constituted its last crowd during the battles of 1993). Unlucky. A single shot, which is rarely fatal, got her. She was rushed to Medina Hospital, but her moment had come. Our technicals, as well as our Land Cruiser, is inside the compound. Everyone sleeps behind walls. Zakaria, the young waiter, speaks excellent English. The only other guest is a Chinese resident who is often on his cellphone: mobile phones are the most successful business in Somalia and any international call costs only 30 cents since there are no licence fees and very little advertising. A young and fair Arab is with him, perhaps his partner. In an adjoining room a radio sparkles to life, and a tall waiter begins to dance with abandon, his tray twirling on his fingertips. From the roof, Mogadishu is peaceful, quiet and patchily lit. There are no mosquitoes. The ocean breeze has driven them away. The moon is seven nights old, and stars unaffected by the gauze of industrial pollution. I switch on television in my room after dinner, and am pleasantly surprised by B4Music. And so to bed listening to Rabbi in Mogadishu, and up with Dev Anand and Hare Rama Hare Krishna and Ishq tera garam masala. Dawn always, and illogically, seems so much safer than night. Ten warlords are the principal arbiters of Mogadishu, but they do not control the only guns on the street. The nippiest guns now belong to the Sharia courts, possibly because they are the youngest, perhaps because they are motivated by more than money. The south of the city has twice the life of the north, which means what it means. The old fish market is still dead. The office buildings are still stark, wounded and empty. A donkey cart stands at the entrance of a lane, selling water. A battered Fiat, looking as old as Mussolini, chugs by: it is the first personal civilian vehicle I see and has no number plates. A choking and lonely jeep is sign of some public transport. Then appears the first traffic jam: a truck and two donkey carts struggling to negotiate the rubble in front of a vegetable market just after the mosque. There is a loudspeaker on the minaret of the Shaikh al-Sufi mosque. As the name suggests, Islam was spread by Sufi mendicants and dervishes in Somalia. There is no hard line on Somali sand. Women, their heads covered in bright cloth, are a normal part of public life, and show as little hesitation as men when they spread a cardboard sheet or cloth and offer namaz at the call of the muezzin. A sign outside the mosque shows the way to a madrasa, the largest in the city. A little later we are overtaken by a Toyota with three young men at the back. They race ahead, oblivious of the rubble or carts or even a technical like ours. "Sharia police," explains my friend. Their sense of power is evident in their speed, and the slight adolescent jeer in their eyes. They are too young to care. Older gunmen in technicals, with bullet belts slung across the shoulder coursing down expanding bellies, take care to travel in large bands. They have something to care about: their salaried lives. Fifty dollars a month gets you a technical or a fake passport, probably Ugandan. Col. Abdullahi Yusuf, president of the Transitional Federal Government (TFG) since October 14, 2004, has often said that he is going to destroy "Islamic terrorists" in Somalia. Col. Yusuf was part of the problem for so long that he has, by the consensus of neighbours and grudging acceptance of nominated members of Parliament, been made part of the solution in the hope that there will be one. But it took him five months to enter Somalia after he became President, and then relocate the capital to Jowhar. His Prime Minister, Ali Muhammad Gedi, was greeted with bomb blasts that almost killed him when he tried to address a public rally in Mogadishu last May. He returned to Nairobi a trifle hastily. Sheikh Hassan Dahir Aweys' henna-streaked beard is familiar to anyone in Mogadishu, as are his calm, softly-delivered sermons. He lives near his mosque and was the most prominent leader of the Ittehad Islamiya. Ever since Washington put this organisation on its terror list after 9/11, everyone prefers to be known as a former leader. His security includes a truck with an anti-aircraft gun but I doubt if that would be sufficient protection if the CIA decided to pick him up. America has no official presence in Somalia, but an anti-terrorist task force of 2,000 is based in Djibouti, a Somali region in the north that was given separate independence because it was under French rule. (A parallel event in India would have made Pondicherry a separate nation.) Sheikh Aweys makes no effort to hide his conviction that Somalia can only be saved by a conversion into an Islamic state, that America has launched a war against Muslims all over the world, and that the CIA has Somali warlords on its payroll who pass on information as well kidnap any suspect on America's wanted list. It is popular belief that CIA agents regularly visit their employees in Mogadishu, arriving by secret aircraft. Sheikh Aweys believes that Colonel Yusuf makes the noises he does in order to get Western support for his notional government. The Islamic movement in Somalia predates the current troubles, said Dr Ahmed Mohammad Hassan, president of the Somali Red Crescent Society and old enough to have seen it all. We met in Nairobi, where he lives. The clergy was the first, he pointed out, to protest against the "scientific socialism" of the pro-Soviet Siad Barre, in January 1975. Barre publicly executed 11 respected clerics in revenge. The clans, principally an alliance between Ali Mahdi and Mohammad Aideed (who, incidentally, served as ambassador to New Delhi for five years), drove out Barre in January 1991 and then spent the next year killing each other in thousands in the battle of succession. That was when famine devastated hundreds of thousands of Somalis who wanted a government rather than a civil war. Who fills the gaps left by a withered state? The Muslim Brotherhood came to a famished people in 1991 through effective relief work across the length of a long country in places like Merca, Kismayo, Dobley, Lugh, Berbera and of course Mogadishu. In June 1992 they, along with Ittehad Islamiya, instigated an insurgency in Puntland, eventually defeated by the Yusuf clan. In mid-1994, a council for the implementation of Sharia law was created with Sheikh Sharif Muhidin as its chairman, in Mogadishu North. It was the first experience of law in a country that had become lawless and helpless, and established a positive image of the clergy. A clan's power over people emerges from its role as a provider of essential necessities of life: security (in times of crisis, even food security), kinship, justice, and an economic net without too many holes. What happens when the credibility of such a powerful, traditional institution is savaged? Over the last fifteen years, this essential fact of Somali society has indulged in spectacular self-destruction. The mosque is perhaps the only institution that provides a community net, education, justice that is implemented and a growing revenue system that can create a safety net. The mosque was always the sole source of salvation in the afterlife for a deeply religious people. It has now become the predominant source of salvation in this life as well. The future of both the clans and the mosque began when Siad Barre fled in January 1991. Only one of the two will find the horizon. http://www.asianage.com/?INA=2:175:175:202909 © 2006 The Asian Age

A Somalia Notebook Byline by M.J. Akbar Tap me too By Suhel Seth Who funded the phone sting? By Harish Gupta A Somalia Notebook Byline by M.J. Akbar How many guns make a warlord? 25 technicals, so about 250 armed men with Russian AK-47s and Belgian pistols make you a lord, and you can go up the hierarchy to viscount or marquis or earl or proper baron if you include a couple of anti-aircraft guns and artillery pieces. But there are no kings in Somalia. A top of the line AK-47 costs between 400 and 500 dollars; many of the weapons are below the line. I picked up one, while we were lunching off chunks of dry roast camel in a dhaba, lent to me by a young man in a shy smile and a lungi. It was heavy, a little less than ten kilograms. I gave it back after making appropriate noises, carefully avoiding even passing contact with the trigger. At a rough glance, my benefactor had about a million and a half Somali shillings worth of ammunition in his belts: a dollar fetches three bullets. Three great symbols of modern civilisation are available in Somalia: the AK-47, Coca Cola and the mobile phone. Three mobile phone companies, Nationlink, TelecomSomalia and Hormut, ensure proper competition. An international call costs only 30 American cents. They also double up as money-transfer operations and one of them (defunct after landing up in the suspect category) sent Washington into paroxysms after 9/11 with a word that previously did not exist in a western dictionary but was perfectly understood in much of Asia, hawala. Americans were in Somalia a decade before 9/11 but never picked up this word. Maybe that is why they never stayed. You have to understand Somalia to stay in Somalia. War is a great boon to technology. A cruise liner defended itself against heavily armed Somali pirate boats last year with the LRAD, Long Range Acoustic Device. It emits a sound from a long range that the human ear cannot tolerate and has proved a brilliant answer to pirate guns. So as long as pirates are human they can be driven. I am told that the device is being used in Iraq to disperse unwanted crowds. For more details on LRAD check Google. The Almighty, Omnipotent Google knows all. Their present having been stolen, Somalis take comfort in the past. Ancient Egyptians imported cinnamon, frankincense, tortoise shells and “slaves of a superior sort†from Somalia and conceded that Somali civilisation matched their own. If the Magi were kings from Africa, then it is at least plausible that the one carrying frankincense for the infant Jesus came from Somalia. Ibn Batuta, the 13th century Tunisian traveller who did not waste time on inconsequential places, found Maqdashaw a “town of enormous size†where “a single person … eats as much as the whole company of us would eat … and they are corpulent in the extremeâ€. The only parallel I can think of is a Kashmiri enjoying his wazwan in front of us mere mortals, but of course the Kashmiri is not corpulent. The waters of Chashm e Shahi keep him slim. How many clans make a nation? The Arabs found 39 when Mogadishu became one of their principal trading colonies in the tenth century. This was the breakdown: Mukri (12), Djidati (12), Akati (6), Ismaili (6) and Afifi (3). The Mukri, who also had a dynastic ulema, were in the ascendant when Ibn Batuta visited the port. The nation state is a recent idea. Nomadic Somalis lived across a far wider region than their present borders, including Ethiopia and Kenya. European colonisation came only towards the end of the 19th century. The British came to the north because, as they put it, they wanted guaranteed meat supplies for their garrison in Aden. The Italians wanted the fruit groves of the south. The French were tempted, typically, by temptation and occupied Djibouti. The clans did not wait to be conquered. They took the easy way out and sold their rights, most often for less than a hundred dollars. The treaties were remarkable for their three-point simplicity. Point 1: All rights are yours. Point 2: I get 70 or 100 dollars. Point 3: You have the last word in all disputes. Neighbours could hardly resist exploiting such weakness. In 1891 Emperor Menelik II, founder of modern Ethiopia, wrote to European powers: “Ethiopia has been for 14 centuries a Christian island in a sea of pagans. If Powers at a distance come forward to artition Africa between them, I do not intend to remain an indifferent spectator.†He did not. He sent word to Amir Abdullahi, ruler of the historic city of Harar and pivotal to Muslim east Africa, to accept his suzerainty. The Amir, heir to a dynasty of 72 generations, sent presents and a helpful suggestion, that Menelik should accept Islam. Menelik promised to conquer Harar and turn the principal mosque into a church. The Medihane Alam Church, in front of the Galma Amir Abdullahi, or the old palace, is evidence that Menelik kept his word. The mosque was converted but not the people. While Ethiopia proudly and correctly claimed to have become Christian at the time of Constantinople, lands like Kenya changed only during the wave of missionary activity that accompanied colonisation in the 19th century. As Jomo Kenyatta, first President of independent Kenya, famously said, “When the missionaries came to Africa, they had the Bible in their hands and we had the lands… We closed our eyes to pray and when we opened them, we had the Bible in our hands and they had the lands…†Harar has the feel of a city that has travelled a long way through history but now has nowhere left to go. Unesco has recognised Harar, about 450 kilometres east of Addis Ababa through land rich in the local addiction,chat (or khat), a mildly intoxicating but stimulating leaf that is chewed slowly, as a heritage city. There is some excitement among the educated elite that Unesco may do more for Harar than all the rulers since the defeat of Amir Abdullahi at the battle of Chelenko in 1887. There is hope but not too much trust. As a sociologist who did his post-graduate studies at the Tata Institute of Social Sciences in Mumbai some twenty years ago, told me over mercato in the lovely café in the courtyard of the city, “We have been living too long on a diet of pledges.†Little was done for the people, who are of Somali origin, but bitter wars were fought over them. In the Seventies, Siad Barre of Somalia invaded Ethiopia to take back the ****** region, where Harar is. Talk that ****** possessed huge reserves of oil and gas might have encouraged the invasion. Siad Barre’s tanks penetrated deep into the desert before they were defeated by Cuban soldiers who acted as mercenaries of the Soviet Union (Ethiopia had a Marxist-Leninist regime then, a fact that merely Socialist Siad Barre forgot). Hararis remember the Cubans as a wild lot, shooting donkeys playfully even after being told how valuable these pack animals were. A few Cuban faces in a traditional and conservative society are more evidence that “liberators†make their own rules. The elders, gradually losing their eminence as a new anger slowly seeps through the young, are resigned to stagnation, and the eyes flicker with old zeal only when they dream that Menelik’s church will once again become a mosque in their lifetime. The people, as elsewhere in Ethiopia, can be strikingly good-looking. The girls wear embroidered head scarves or, rarely,the hijab with jeans. The boys are in the ubiquitous football T-shirt. One bearded young man had EBAMA, San Jose, California, Badr 2004 written on his T-shirt. It stood for Ethiopian Bay Area Muslim Association. Had he lived in America, I asked. No,he said. Few leave Harar. Those who go send T-shirts along with cheques, but do not return. The mansion in which the Lion of Judah, Haile Selassie, was born is in the old city, called Jubal, and was built by an Indian. You walk down a narrow stone alley full of shops and tailors with Singer sewing machines. Indians, particularly Bohras from Mumbai, dominated commerce during Muslim rule in Harar. Haile Selassie was born here because his father, Menelik’s brother,was made governor after the defeat of Amir Abdullahi. Unesco has allocated funds for the restoration of the mansion, but ten families have made it their home and will not move. The most interesting occupant is a healer. He sits, erect, on a mattress at the centre of one end of a spacious drawing room on the ground floor. His fame is recorded for posterity in a notebook where his literate patients describe their miraculous recovery, and attach passport-size photographs to add a face to their identity. He is 52 and learnt his skills from his father, whose picture is framed on the high wall behind him, above a carpet with a drawing of the holy mosque at Kaaba, and a much-extended string of prayer beads which he uses for dhikr, a Sufi form of devotion, at night. A woman enters, kisses his extended hand twice while he continues talking to us, and joins another with a child in a corner. There is a telephone on a table, and two small tape-players, one broken. The telephone rings once during our visit, and is picked by an aide lounging on the side who, we realise later, also speaks English. A notice board indicates that the healer cures all the tough diseases, including gynaecological problems, but, alas, back pain is not on the list. He assures me that he can repair nerves that wrack your back as well, and there has been a cancer patient or two who has gone home happy. He explains that he uses herbs and plants, and not shaman-style magic. Perhaps he tells villagers, who crowd around him in the mornings since they have to return by nightfall, something different; perhaps he is equally candid with them. He asks about herbal medicines in India and I include Tibet’s fame in my response. The notice outside affirms that the healer does not accept fees, but donations for the cause are not unwelcome. I do not use his expertise, but my donation is not unwelcome either.

Rights Committee (OHRC), has conducted extensive research to document human rights violations in the ****** by the current EPRDF government in Ethiopia. In this article, Mohamed gives an extract on a recent report on human rights violations in his home province. (04-DEC-05) Photo of Mohamed: Niels Jacob Harbitz As a result of its research, the ****** Human Rights Committee has issued several reports and statements on the human rights situation in the ******. This recent report documents human rights violations in the ******, including illegal imprisonment without charges or trial, enforced disappearances, torture, extrajudicial executions, abduction, forced labour, hostage-taking, abusive dismissals, ethnic discrimination and religious persecution carried out by the Ethiopian government. Gross violations So far, the OHRC has documented 506 extrajudicial killings; 198 disappearance cases; 460 rape and child molestation cases; 4655 cases of unlawful private property confiscation; and demolition of 1656 houses owned by innocent civilians. Victims of human rights abuses and their relatives have been warned not to speak of their experiences to anyone, especially to ICRC staff and foreign embassies, or else they would be severely punished. So, the victims and their relatives are too afraid to tell their ordeal. However, many victims and their families gave their testimonies on condition that their real names should not be used. Their graphic accounts of misery, fear and brutalities are included in the report. Violators encouraged, decorated and promoted by Ethiopian government In addition to human rights abuses, the report underlines - in a few sentences - the systematic degradation of the natural environment in the ****** under the current government in Ethiopia as well as enormous carnage caused by landmines laid indiscriminately by the EPRDF government forces. The OHRC welcomes wholeheartedly the international efforts to reach a global treaty banning the use, production and export of landmines, and calls upon the international community to aid landmine victims in the ******, and send mine clearance teams to conduct comprehensive countrywide demining programme. The report quotes many articles from the new Ethiopian Constitution in order to reveal the nature of the Ethiopian government, which pays lip service to human rights concerns, but disregards International Human Rights Treaties, as well as its laws and Constitution. The Ethiopian government has done nothing to stop or prevent human rights violations in the ******. On the contrary, it encourages, decorates and promotes violators to higher ranks. Appeals and recommendations The international community should take note that the human rights violations presented in detail in this report and also in previous reports are flagrant violations of rights and freedoms guaranteed by International Human Rights Treaties, acceded to or ratified by Ethiopia. The report concludes with appeals and recommendations to the international community as well as individuals for urgent action to end and prevent human rights violations in the ******, plus classified lists of victims of human rights abuses. BACKGROUND Mohamed goes on to tell the following story: -The ****** Somali territory lies between Oromia to the West, Afar land to the Northwest, the Republic of Djibouti to the north, Kenya to the south and The Somali Republic to the east. Somali agro-pastorals people with a single language, culture, and socio-economic structure inhabit the ****** territory. The ****** Somali people were free, independent and powerful until colonial powers from overseas came to Africa and started arming the Abyssinian chiefs in the north of present day Ethiopia. The Abyssinians using the arms and expertise provided by the colonialists captured Harar in 1884 and started raiding ****** Somali villages in that area, killing the men and selling women and children as slaves. The ****** Somalis resisted vehemently the encroachment of the Abyssinian expansionists and succeeded in halting their advance. Even though the Abyssinian military campaign to conquer the rest of the Somali territory failed, the colonial powers recognised its claim over the ****** Somaliland and signed treaties with them. From 1886 to 1948, Abyssinia (renaming itself Ethiopia) waged a constant war of conquest against the Somalis but failed in gaining any further foothold in the ******. In 1935, Italy invaded Abyssinia and captured it along with the ****** and the territories of other nations in the area. Then the British defeated Italy in the Horn of Africa in 1941, and it administered the ****** for eight years until it transferred the first part of the ****** (Jigjiga area) to Ethiopia (the Abyssinians) for the first time. The next parts were transferred in 1954 and 1956. Thus, Ethiopia gained the control over the ****** without the knowledge or consent of the ****** Somalis. From that time onward, successive Ethiopian regimes mercilessly suppressed the ****** people and whenever the liberation movements seriously weakened and threatened Ethiopian colonialism, a foreign power directly intervened to re-establish its colonial rule over the ******. Ethiopia since the beginning of this century and up to now has been characterised by one nation using the powers of state to subjugate and exploit all the other nations within that artificial system. For almost one century, the Abyssinians are abusing the concept of sovereignty and statehood to deprive the rights of other people living under the rule of the artificial state of Ethiopia. Ethiopia is a state founded on colonial doctrine and bases its rule on the use of force and emergency measures for oppressing the majority of the people and exploiting them. Ethiopia claims that African borders inherited from colonialism should be left intact and it inherited the ****** territory from the colonial powers. At the same time, Ethiopia is boasting to be the only African state that was never colonised. This means that Ethiopia has been a participating partner with the colonial powers that divided Africa among themselves but has never relinquished its colonial possessions. To maintain such a colonial state, the rulers had to build a massive military machine and embark on forcefully maintaining one of the most vicious authoritarian rules in the third world. The resultant resistance from the people and the inevitable taxing of material and moral resources of the oppressing elite became Ethiopia's Achilles heal and brought about the downfall of its successive regimes. The relentless resistance of the colonised nations and the consequential resource drainage brought down both the rules of Haille Sellassie and the military Junta of Mengistu. THE CURRENT REGIME IN ETHIOPIA After the fall of Mengistu Haille Mariam, EPRDF (Ethiopian Peoples Revolutionary Democratic Front - the new name adopted by the Tigray Peoples Liberation Front to camouflage it's narrow ethnic base and rule Ethiopia, succeeded in capturing Addis Ababa with the help of Eritrean Peoples Liberation Front (EPLF). Although most of the nations under Ethiopian colonial rule contributed to the weakening and downfall of the Ethiopian Politico-military machine, specially the ****** Somali people who not only played a major role but also involved their brethren across the border from the Somali Republic, TPLF captured the seat of power and succeeded in gaining international recognition. At first the new Ethiopian rulers feeling weak and aware of the international climate and the demise of totalitarian regimes and the era of colonialism, forwarded a reasonable and plausible program for addressing the burning issue of Ethiopian colonialism and its solution through recognising and granting the right of nations to self-determination through a peaceful process. EPRDF offered the charter program, which recognised the right of nations to self-determination up to cessation and stated that a transitional period of two years has to relapse before the nations could exercise that right. Thus, EPRDF recognised the colonial nature of Ethiopia in principle. The ******ia National Liberation Front (ONLF), considering the burden of the long struggle of the ****** Somali people and cognisant of the priceless value of resolving the long standing conflict between Ethiopia and the ****** people through peaceful means decided to give chance to peace and avert a costly and unnecessary war. But before the ink was dry, it became obvious to ONLF that EPRDF was only buying time and was lying the ground for keeping intact the colonial legacy it inherited and was scheming to attain the submission of the ****** Somalis to it colonial rule through demagogy and token democracy. EPRDF grossly miscalculated the gravity and depth of the ****** Ethiopian problem. EPRDF blinded by its sudden and unexpected victory and the temporary absence of challenge and armed opposition from The ******ia National Liberation Front grossly miscalculated the severity and gravity of the conflict between the ****** people and Ethiopia and the unbending desire of the ****** Somalis to regain their usurped sovereignty and independence. EPRDF, forgetful of the bitter experience of its people under the previous rulers and despite its rhetoric of being committed to democracy and the rule of law and respecting the right of nations began the construction of its politico-military structures for maintaining the colonial empire of its predecessors. Hence, all people concerned in ending the long-standing conflict lost an excellent opportunity and EPRDF planted the seeds of the next cycle of bloodshed and violence in the region. It started trying to divide the ****** Somali people and undermine the leading role of ONLF by creating pseudo-organisations based on tribal lines. At the same time, it spread its intelligence network and military garrisons all over the ******. In early 1992, the EPRDF government master-minded the killing of several ONLF officials, including some members belonging to the Front's Central Committee. Then EPRDF attacked the headquarters of ONLF in an effort to wipe it out but withdrew after sustaining high casualties and postponed its plans. In spite of all the intrigues and harassment of EPRDF, ONLF and the ****** Somalis persisted in avoiding confrontation and continued rebuilding their political and administrative institutions. In September 1992, the ****** people went to the polls to cast their votes in a free and fair election, for the first time in their long history, to elect their district councils and representatives for the regional parliament. EPRDF strongly campaigned for its surrogate parties and members, but in a landslide victory, the ONLF won about 84% of the seats in the newly elected regional parliament. In mid-1993, the regional government complained to the government in Addis Ababa about its flagrant interference in the day-to-day affairs of the ****** region, an act that contradicted the commitment to regional autonomy and devolution of power to the regions. EPRDF retaliated by freezing the regional budget, diverting international aid, discouraging international Non Governmental Organisations (NGOs) to work in the ******, as well as obstructing all initiatives, and projects deemed necessary for the development of the region. In late 1993, the Ethiopian security forces arrested the president, vice-president and secretary of the Regional Assembly, and it transferred them to prison in Addis Ababa. EPRDF released them after ten months without trail. Finally, when EPRDF established its legitimacy as the government of Ethiopia in the eyes of the international community, and its military and economic resources was enhanced, it felt confident enough to mount a military campaign against the ****** Somalis at the end of the transitional period. Moreover, in order to get the raison d'être for its campaign of terror and subjugation of the ****** people, EPRDF dictated to ONLF and the ****** Somalis an unacceptable choice. In effect, EPRDF told the ****** Somalis to either endorse a compulsory constitution that would legalise the colonisation of the ****** people by Ethiopia and the participation in an election where their role would be to endorse EPRDF nominated candidates. EPRDF strategy was to deceive the ****** Somalis into sanctioning its colonial rule while at the same time eliminating themselves from the political structures it intended to maintain its hegemony over the nations and avert any future threat. In addition, if the ****** Somalis oppose what it proposed, to get the motive for declaring war on the ****** people and extricate itself from honouring the pledges it entered in its moment of weakness and maintain the Ethiopian colonial legacy. The ****** people, after deliberating on the moves and intentions of EPRDF and understanding the choices EPRDF was presenting to them; either to relinquish what they had fought for so long or to be trodden upon, decided that it was unacceptable to succumb to the designs of EPRDF and forgo the quest for their self-determination and freedom. A quest the ****** people had shed so much blood for and suffered so much. Therefore, on 28 January 1994, at a press conference in Addis Ababa, ONLF called for a referendum on self-determination and independence for the ******. And on 22 February 1994, a cold-blood massacre took place in the town of Wardheer, where more than 81 unarmed civilians were killed by TPLF militias, who tried to kill or capture alive the chairman of the ONLF Mr. Ibrahim Abdalla Mohamed, who was addressing at that time a peaceful rally in the centre of the town. In February 1994, the Regional Assembly passed a unanimous resolution in accordance with the Transitional Charter, demanding a referendum on self-determination and independence for the ****** people, under the auspices of international and regional bodies such as United Nations, Organization of African Unity, European Union, and other independent non-governmental organizations. The EPRDF government in Addis Ababa reacted swiftly overthrowing and virtually disbanding all democratically elected institutions in the ******, including the Regional Parliament. Like their predecessors, the president of the Regional Parliament, vice-president and several members of the parliament (MPs), were arrested and transferred to prison in Addis Ababa. Mass arrests and indiscriminate killings also took place. On 17 April 1994, the Ethiopian government launched a large scale military offensive against ONLF positions and detained many suspected supporters of ONLF and on 28 April 1994, at a press conference in Addis Ababa, the then TPLF defence minister Saye Abraha claimed that all resistance movements in the ****** had been destroyed and stamped out. In a petition addressed to the president of the Transitional Government of Ethiopia (TGE), the elders of the ****** asked the Ethiopian government to stop the military offensive against the ****** people, and seek a peaceful dialogue to resolve the conflict, instead of opting for a military solution, which complicates the already explosive situation. In May 1994, the EPRDF government sponsored a new surrogate party called Ethiopian Somali Democratic League (ESDL), which is a version of People's Democratic Organizations (PDO), which exists throughout Ethiopia within the EPRDF framework. The first congress of ESDL was held in Hurso under the patro-nage of the then prime minister of TGE Tamirat Layne (now eliminated also), who appointed a member of the ruling EPRDF coalition as a chairman of the new pro-government party. On 25 January 1995, the EPRDF government hastily arranged a meeting in the town of Qabridaharre to convince the ONLF to participate in the upcoming federal and regional elections. The meeting, which was chaired by the then president Meles Zenawi (the current prime minister), failed when EPRDF refused to allow independent arbitrators to participate in a negotiated settlement. After that the ONLF, broke off all contacts with the EPRDF government, closed down its office in Addis Ababa and boycotted elections in 1995. Since 20 April 1994, combatants of the ONLF and Ethiopian forces are fighting bloody battles and Ethiopia is vehemently denying the engagements with the liberation forces. Certainly, the ongoing struggle for self-determination and independence in the ****** continues to cause inhuman sufferings and are the basis of instability and tragedy in the Horn of Africa. The 1991 Charter and the new Constitution, which Ethiopia espoused on 8 December 1994, guaranteed, as EPRDF claimed, the secession of a people if they are, 'Convinced that their rights are abridged or abrogated'. In addition, the process of negating that the rights of the ****** Somali people is constantly abrogated proved too costly to the ruling junta in Addis Ababa. The regime in Ethiopia started a campaign of propaganda and public relation stunts in order to convince the international community of it democratic and liberal nature and to legitimise its continued presence in the ****** after the people requested to exercise their right to self determination and announced that it was conducting elections in the ******. The ****** people thwarted its attempts. Nevertheless, it announced that the elections were held and its bogus surrogates had won the seats in the ******. At the same time to further cloak its treachery, it formed its own ONLF party and declared that ONLF had taken part in its sham elections. This was a clear indicator of its lack of confidence and inability to hide its failure to control the ******. From that time onwards, Ethiopia has been moulding and remoulding it sham representatives in the ******, the so-called parties and ****** parliament, more than five times. Up to this day, however, Ethiopia is unable to manage the situation. After failing to intimidate the ****** Somalis to go along with its colonial program, EPRDF has embarked on a war of attrition with ONLF and, indiscrimi-nately, against the ****** people. The Ethiopian army (EPRDF militia's) has killed, imprisoned or looted thousands of civilians. Hundreds of women were raped and for the first time in the history of the ****** people, male children were raped. But the new Ethiopian colonial state headed by EPRDF has used every trick in the books of colonial strategy but failed to obliterate the armed national struggle of the ****** People and has been forced to occupy only the major towns and move in heavily armed convoys. Then Ethiopia has resorted to human rights violations such as killings, imprison-ments, forced conscription, exiling, intimidation and harassment, suppression of basic democratic rights which highlight the suffering of the peoples. The regime's policies of systematic underdevelopment include economic sabotage, irresponsible plunder of resources with no regard to sustainability of the environment, denial of education opportunities, socio-cultural dismantling and subjection to conflict-ridden political and administrative structures. Moreover, in the ******, EPRDF forces and Tigrean dealers, who have been given concessions and game-licences by the Ethiopian government, which is dominated by ethnic Tigreans, are devastating the poor and the fragile ecological balance by widespread exploitation and depletion of forests for military purposes, firewood and charcoal. The rich wildlife, including big game, game birds, forests and water resources has all suffered irreparable damage in the ****** under the Ethiopian government. After it became obvious to EPRDF that it could not destroy the national resistance of the people and that it was gaining momentum, EPRDF following the strategies of its predecessors attacked stateless Somalia and captured three regions. Ethiopia is intending to find scapegoats to blame for its failure in subduing the ****** people and their rejection of its colonial lust, divert attention and in a bid to maintain its credibility both inside and outside Ethiopia. Ethiopia is also actively engaged in sabotaging the reconciliation of the Somali people and building of a Somali state. At the same time, Ethiopia is hosting summits for the Somali leaders and is posing as a mentor to the Somali people and collecting funds from the UN on that issue. The Ethiopian destabilisation plan is not limited to the Somali nation. Ethiopia attacked Eritrea on the pretext of retaking two Eritrean territories but in reality is intent in recapturing Eritrea and colonising it again, but Ethiopia received from Eritrea lessons it did not bargain for. Ironically, the Ethiopian government, which violates the very basic human rights of all citizens in the empire-state of Ethiopia, including the ****** Somalis, and wages wars against its neighbours, poses itself as a champion of Democracy and Human Rights in Africa. THE POSITION OF THE ****** SOMALIS The ****** Somali people present the following summation of their views about Ethiopia: 1. Ethiopia has colonised the ****** people and is viciously continuing that colonial legacy in spite of the change of regime in Addis Ababa and the ****** people categorically state that the present regime of EPRDF is not different from the rule of it predecessors in substance. 2. The ****** people are a sovereign nation, have the right to be masters of their destiny, and are intent on actualising that right. 3. The ****** people will continue to struggle as long as the Ethiopian state remains intransigent to the rights and wishes and continue pursuing its inhuman oppressive policies. 4. The ****** people will not participate in the bogus elections Ethiopia periodically conducts as a public relations exercise to beguile the local and international communities and hide its colonial and authoritarian nature, nor will they take part in its colonial administrative structures. 5. The ****** people calls upon the people of Ethiopia not to participate in the maniacal purges the current regime is perpetrating on the ****** people and become a party to the regime's crime against humanity. 6. The ****** people calls upon the current EPRDF regime ruling Ethiopia to desist from its current militaristic and aggressive attitude and accept a peaceful negotiated settlement of the current conflict between the ****** people and Ethiopia with the participation of third neutral parties from the international community. APPEAL TO THE INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY The ****** people inform the international community that the Ethiopian government is violating their basic human rights and is systematically exterminating them. Ethiopia is being encouraged to commit this genocide against the ****** people by the lack of the international community censure over its human rights violations, and holding its rulers responsible for the gross human rights abuses perpetrated by its Army and Security Forces in the ******. The ****** people appeal to the international community to recognise the colonial nature of Ethiopia and its brutal repression of the ****** people and hold it accountable for its acts. Furthermore, Ethiopia is using international aid for military and political programs directed at oppressing the ****** Somalis and other nations under its colonial rule and in its expansionist policies against its neighbours. Whenever its war coffers are depleted, Ethiopia appeals for international aid for natural disaster victims, at the same time Ethiopia has the means to attack two neighbouring states and maintain a huge colonial occupation army in the ******, Oromia, Afar, Sidama and other territories of the oppressed nations.

Justice for the Atrocities of the 1980s: The Responsibility of Politicians and Political Parties "One day in mid-August [1988], Dahir Rayaale, head of the NSS, came to our ice plant and took my father away. They also arrested one of the watchmen, an old man, Farah Badeh Gheedi. They were detained in the police station, accused of talking about the prospects of the SNM coming to Berbera. " Abdifatah Abdillahi Jirreh By Rakiya A. Omaar Like so many other Somalis, my life in the 1980s was marked profoundly by the terrible human right situation under the regime of Mohamed Siad Barre. I was one of the very lucky ones. I did not live in Somalia at the time, and no-one in my family was killed or maimed when the government unleashed a genocidal frenzy in Somaliland, then the Northwest region of Somalia. Being lucky implied a responsibility: to let the world know what was happening, so it could exert pressure to halt the atrocities. Fortunately, I had just begun my career in human rights as director of the US-based group, Africa Watch. This position gave me a platform from which I could speak and make my contribution. I am, in particular, proud of one book I researched and wrote while at Africa Watch, A Government at War With Its Own People: Testimonies About the Killings and the Conflict in the North, published in New York in January 1990. Unfortunately, the Ethiopian government of the time refused us permission to interview the refugees in the Ethiopian camps. So the research took me to Djibouti and to various cities in the UK which housed men, women and children who had fled Siad Barre’s tactics of terror. I spent months listening to harrowing testimony about a well-planned campaign to eliminate an entire people. It is not possible to do justice to their stories in an article, but this is the picture that emerged. I am writing about this book now, 12 years later, because it has, once again, entered the political arena. Arguing that all Isaaqs were supporters of the Somali National Movement (SNM), the guerrilla movement that sought to drive the government out of the Northwest, life, as we know it, was denied to them in their own homeland from 1981 to May 1988, It became, instead, a succession of human rights abuses. Murder; detentions; torture; unfair trials; confiscation of land and other property; constraints on freedom of movement and of expression; a strategy of humiliation directed at family life, at women and elders; the denial of equal opportunities; discriminatory business practices and curfews and checkpoints became a daily affair. Both urban centres and rural communities were targeted, but it was the nomadic population, regarded as the backbone of the SNM economically and in terms of human resources, which suffered the most. Their men and boys were gunned down, their women raped, their water reservoirs destroyed and people, as well as livestock, were blown up by landmines. In late May 1988, the SNM attacked the towns of Hargeisa and Burao. It was the start of a savage war against ***** civilians which drove most of them into exile in the inhospitable desert of Ethiopia. Instead of engaging the SNM militarily, the government used the full range of its military hardware against unarmed and defenceless civilians, thinking perhaps that the SNM would be too preoccupied with the chaos of mass civilian casualties to fight back effectively. The assault knew no bounds: residential homes were bombed, fleeing refugees were strafed by planes and men, women and children perished by the thousands. Presidenet Dahir Riyale Kahin Mohamed Said Barre is not alone in his guilt for these crimes against humanity, for which no-one has yet been prosecuted. Some of the other key architects of this policy of annihilation, men like Mohamed Saeed Morgan, Mohamed Hashi Gaani and countless other collaborators, continue to wreak havoc in Somalia. Others, including Mohamed Ali Samater, live in comfortable exile in the United States and elsewhere in the world. And then others are right here in Somaliland. And they include President Dahir Rayaale, who was head of the feared and powerful secret service, the National Security Service (NSS) in Berbera. President Rayaale is named in A Government at War With Its Own People. The town of Berbera saw some of the worst atrocities of the war, even though the SNM never entered Berbera in 1988. Elders and businessmen were immediately arrested en masse after the SNM attack on Hargeisa and Burao; between 27 May and 1 June, they were transferred to Mogadishu. The killings, which were exceptionally brutal in Berbera, began shortly afterwards. Many of the victims had their throats slit and were then shot. A series of massacres which have been mentioned again and again took place, mainly in June, in Buraosheikh, close to Berbera, when about 500 men were killed in groups of between 30-40. Some of the victims were from Burao, Hargeisa and surrounding villages who had come as temporary labourers to the port of Berbera. Others were asylum seekers who had been returned from Saudia Arabia. The names of some of these men are listed in the book. As head of the NSS in Berbera, Dahir Rayaale bears a heavy and direct responsibility for their fate. Witnesses who are alive also recall Rayaale’s contribution to the war against civilians. One of the people I interviewed in Djibouti in August 1989 and who is cited in the book is Abdifatah Abdillahi Jirreh. He was only 14 at the time, but he remembered Dahir Rayaale. One day in mid-August [1988], Dahir Rayaale, head of the NSS, came to our ice plant and took my father away. They also arrested one of the watchmen, an old man, Farah Badeh Gheedi. They were detained in the police station, accused of talking about the prospects of the SNM coming to Berbera. Rayaale is not the only man who has held a senior political position in Somaliland whose conduct of human rights has been questioned. Many former ***** members of the NSS and the HANGASH, the military police that came to exert formidable power over civilians, today occupy key positions in Somaliland in the NSS, re-established in 1995, and the Criminal Investigations Department (CID). The people they tortured, interrogated and spied on, and the people whose loved ones they killed, will, one day, no doubt give their own account. So the issue is not one of clan and community identity, but of individual responsibility for grave injustices. These men, whether they are Isaaqs or non-Isaaqs, must answer for what they did in their political and professional capacity. And the political parties to which they belong must investigate these accusations thoroughly and objectively and respond accordingly. The three political parties who will contest the forthcoming presidential elections—UDUB, Kulmiye and UCID—must ensure that they do not recruit, let alone put forward as candidates, human rights offenders. Since the accusations in the book became a matter of public debate, “witnesses†have gone on television to say that Rayaale actually saved lives. That is not the point; he may well have saved some people, but that does not prove that he did not commit the acts of which he is accused. The case about President Rayaale is especially serious because he is a candidate in the first free presidential elections that the country has known in more than 30 years. He became president, not through the will of the people, but appointed by the House of Elders on the death of the late President Mohamed Ibrahim Egal. But now it is a matter of choice. If he wins, he will remain in power for five years. Justice for the victims is at stake. But so is the future of Somaliland. The crimes of the 1980s is the very reason why Somaliland decided to secede from Somalia in May 1991. The fact that men like Morgan and Gaani retain considerable power in Somalia is a major issue for people in Somaliland. Only a leader whose own hands are clean has the legitimacy to speak for Somaliland on such major questions as the prosecution of war criminals and to represent his people effectively regionally and internationally. The question will be asked: why has it taken so long for this information to be widely disseminated and known, despite the fact that it was documented as early as 1990? There are many factors, the most important of which was the decision taken in May 1991 to pursue a policy of reconciliation in Somaliland. But even then, the leading perpetrators of war crimes were excluded and a committee named to pursue their case. But settling the internal conflicts of the 1990s drained energy that might have been devoted to that task. So justice took a back seat. But with the prospect of electing a president who faces such serious accusations, Somaliland cannot afford to remain silent. Keeping quiet means that tens of thousands of people died for nothing. It means that an entire people became impoverished and stateless refugees for nothing. It means that Hargeisa, Burao, Berbera and other towns became roofless ghost towns for nothing. And it means that any attempt to pursue the likes of Morgan and Gaani will be laughed out of court. It is time to speak out and set the record straight. Rakiya A. Omaar is the director of the international human rights organisation, African Rights.

Well, All of this lecturing and talk is a smoke screen for you all take this personal. You are offended by my constant taunting of Yeey simply you all share some lineage. I don't hate his Qabiil but I despise those who cheer for him because of it. Caasho Yuusuf is a derisive nick given to him because of his sissiness and feminine weakness. I will keep dissing him as long as he is alive. The man is not "oday Soomaaliyeed" at all. people of his age..Soomaali odayaal are in the Masjid for worshipping and repentence. He is a murderer, blood thirsty, clannish, evil, sell-out and may I add an apostate. and for Sumarai guy....i like kit-kat - but again it shows how devoid you are of reasoning n try to attack the messanger and not the message? IS caasho Yuusuf your eedo? No one chase me out of Xamar, I was there in 2004 and I am planning to go there this coming summer inshallah for a short vacation.

Well; I hate Yeey and all his cheerleaders! I have unsettled grudge for Yeey. And I am not ashamed of my heritage but I am more Somali than anyone and who said I am an outsider? That shows how some Somali Maryooleey from Baadiyo background are void of rationale and reason. My derision and ridicule of certain clans is justifiable and it all has to do with experiences. Some may forgive but will never forget! Why would anyone equate Somalia & Yeey? Are the two the same? That is baffling to me and why you guys are so passionately defending this wicked warlord? can't someone just dislike someone? He is a public figure...for God's sake...we bash Bush Jr..on daily basis ....not even one single conservative redneck is seeing this as a personal affront on thier personality, family and community. Oh no...it hurts ...he is our hero ...our leader...our president..our hope of ever regaining back our lost past privilege and name! this is the somali mentality ...you perceive this bashing of warlord Yeey as an assault of your clan! your understanding is ....that if anyone disses Yeey, he/she insults your clan and all the clansmen should take this to mean as an odious attack on their name and honor...So you will come to his defense!! Bravo! Good Job! I must appluad you all! And for MMA ...the topic is not about me though...It is about the imposter poet Togane and his "Xaar"...I am just a messanger...not the message ...so no killing of ..... you know how it goes and this changing of the topic really undermines your "moderator" function and duties.

the "us" means my relatives across the sea... Who is Indhacadde? one of the shot-callers of the south? Bro, I am just amused with the imaginary tête-à -tête talk he had with the chief of Johar! And I am laughing at the stingy fable of the émigrés. And I am laughing at how he agonizingly brings to light his angst of ever making it back to the fabled city.

So where are those Yeey cheerleaders and Togane fans? how come you haven't posted his latest XAAR? No, it ain pretty when he is bashing us! Will Never return to Mog

Hubka Yeey looga soo daabulo, Maxaa dheere aa xero ku ootay, qaarna bakaaraa lagu beeciyaa! Run waaye hadaan sidii Boorame geed iyo buur la fuulin oo la isku soo hor fariisan oo beenta la is ka dhaadhiciyay la iska dhaafin inaan waxna ka soo baxeeyn hishiis dalka banaankiisa lagu soo gaaray.

What was the so-called Qourum number? 139? out of 275. How many are in Xamar? and how many are in Jowhar? How many are dispersed around the world? How many are in Eastleigh? How many have dual nationalities? As far as the 4.5 formula is concerned - the parliament meeting can be convened anywhere even if the members of one main clan don't show up. the parliament can meet in Ceel Barde or Garoowe.... Sharif's side = 61 + Yeey's side 61, 2X61 = 122 + 31 from the minority "others" = 153...more than the qourum ... Who needs Hargeisa & Muqdisho.. I am sure half of the Mogadishu parliamentarians (Ghedi supporters + SRRC) will show up and half of the Northerners (anti-seccesionists) will show up - so that is more or less 50 - 203 more than enough - Let us have the parliament convention in Boosaaso! It has a port and the "Puntland" government would be generous enough to host such a "historical" gathering of Somalia's concerned patriotic leaders! where are the "puntlanders" , start the fundraising and the organization....reservations.... The cheerleaders in MN can sponsor this!

The Octogenerian Yeey AKA Caasho Yusuf is about to walk down the Villa Somalia aisle before giving up the ghost! 30 years of insurgency and Jabhadeeyn definitely pays! thanks to the honorable benovolent Speaker. The Aden Declaration seems to me like Aroos la soo digay!

Mark my word! There won't be no agreement between warlords! It is just another scam! nothing will work in Somalia and don't ever expect it to work! Somalia is doomed. No matter who meets with who - it is going to be chaos and squabbling forever! Somalis are cursed with the worst ruthless leaders

Caasho Yusuf is a warlordess and her destiny is defeat and humiliation. for all the clannish cheerleaders who are here to defend such a contemptible character, no matter how much you prop him up, to most of us, decent Somalis, this sissy punk is always despised and detested.

He is already a dead man walking - let us see - He is an octogenrian, sick with parkinson disease, has a fake liver, is out-of-closet apostate and ethiopian a$$-kisser. His feeble mind is filled with hatred. He is a clannish murderer and ruthless warlord. he killed my best friend's father - Sultan Hurre. He also killed Shandille, and Abdirahman Aidiied... He lived a life full of strive and rebellion. He is a divisive figure whose speech and talk is full of warmongering and incitement. mark my word Caasho Yusuf's days are numbered

I went to a coffee place where a lot of Somalis meet and discuss nonesense. I thought our current warlord-President's nickname was only Ina-yeey but tonight I learned he also goes by Caasho Yuusuf! Some Somalis are so creative! Siyaad Barre was known - duqa -odayga -macalinka -afweyne - He had the respect of his foes but this nut-head is already seen as a weak sissy president who can't do nothing to no one - He is holed in a small city and is just a sick old man who is close to the grave. Some guys were making fun of his sissy-ness and that is when I heard -his latest nickname - Caasho Yuusuf