^^^Nice one, will try to get this next insha Allah.

During dinner (which included camel and goat meat, spaghetti, rice, salad and fruit), we were able to ask questions about the priorities of the Puntland government, what kind of international assistance they require, what kind of action is needed to improve the situation in Mogadishu and southern Somalia. Zdenek sat beside me capturing great images and recording our conversations.

^^^Insha Allah I want to go back and explore the whole place one day..

^^^Thanks, but the coast need to be explored and pictures of the breathtaking beaches would go along way. What about Bargaal or Calula?

Tullow Oil and Africa Oil to Jointly Explore New East African Rift Trend VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA, Sep 02, 2010 (MARKETWIRE via COMTEX) -- Africa Oil Corp. /quotes/comstock/11v!aoi (CA:AOI 1.30, +0.02, +1.56%) ("Africa Oil" or "the Company") is pleased to report that it has signed a definitive farmout agreement with Tullow Oil plc ("Tullow") whereby Tullow will acquire a 50% interest in, and operatorship of, three of Africa Oil's east African exploration blocks, comprised of two exploration blocks in Kenya and one exploration block in Ethiopia. In order to provide the necessary interest to Tullow, Africa Oil has also amended its existing farmout agreement with Lion Energy Corp. ("Lion"). Under the terms of the Tullow farmout agreement, Tullow will acquire a 50% interest in, and operatorship of, Blocks 10BB and 10A in Kenya and of the South Omo Block in Ethiopia. In consideration for the assignment of these interests, Tullow will pay to Africa Oil approximately US$10MM, representing 50% of Africa Oil's past costs in the blocks, subject to a post-closing audit. Tullow will also fund Africa Oil's working interest share of future joint venture expenditures in these blocks until the cap of US$23.75MM is reached. This cap is expected to cover the upcoming seismic program in each of the three blocks as well as the majority of costs for at least 2 wells on these areas. Once the expenditure cap has been met, Africa Oil will be responsible for its working interest share of future costs. Additionally, Tullow has also entered into an agreement to acquire 50% of Africa Oil's interest in, and operatorship of, two additional exploration blocks in Kenya, 12A and 13T, recently acquired by Africa Oil. Tullow will be responsible for paying Africa Oil its pro-rata share of back costs, including acquisition costs, and its respective share of future joint venture expenditures. The amendment of the Lion farmout agreement provides that Lion will reduce its interest in Block 10BB to 10% (originally 20%) and will not retain any interest in Block 10A (originally 25%). As consideration Africa Oil has agreed to pay Lion US$2.5 million in cash and to issue to Lion 2.5 million common shares of Africa Oil. Africa Oil has also agreed to the elimination of future expenditure promotes in Block 10BB and on the Company's projects in Puntland (Somalia). The resultant interest in the three blocks upon closing of the Tullow farmout agreement and the Lion amending agreement will be:

Making Deals and Profits in the East African Rift Cutting the Dark Continent By Christian A. DeHaemer Friday, September 3rd, 2010 The East African Rift is a geological zone where continental plates in Eastern Africa have developed a tectonic plate boundary. This is a part of the larger Great Rift Valley, where the African Plate is in the process of dividing into two new tectonic plates called the Somali Plate and the Nubian Plate. As you can tell by the map above, it runs almost the entire length of Africa. What you don't see on the map is that the East African Rift is suspected to be one of the last great oil and natural gas deposits on earth. According to Time: Seismic tests over the past 50 years have shown that countries up the coast of East Africa have natural gas in abundance. Early data compiled by industry consultants also suggest the presence of massive offshore oil deposits. There is now a land grab going on. Oil explorers are dropping more wells in East Africa, one of the last great frontiers in the hunt for hydrocarbons. I first recommended Tullow Oil (London: TWL) a few years ago, after they discovered 2 billion barrels in Uganda... It's been off to the races every since: In March, Texas-based oil company Anadarko Petroleum Corp. (NYSE: APC) announced that it had found a giant reservoir of natural gas off the coast of Mozambique. Now companies are making deals and cutting up the continent into exploration blocks. Tullow just announced it would acquire a 50% interest in — and management of — three of Africa Oils East African exploration blocks. These include two blocks in Kenya and one exploration block in Ethiopia. Tullow will pay $10 million USD for these new exploration blocks. The company will also fund Africa Oil's working interest share of future joint venture expenditures in these blocks until the cap of US$23.75MM is reached. A lot of untapped oil... North Africa has seen 20,000 wells sunk over the past few decades. Drillers have sunk 14,000 wells in and off West Africa. However, in East Africa, only 500 wells have been explored... There are some oil men and geologists who think that there are 10 billion barrels of oil in Somalia. But constant political unrest in the nation means that no one is willing to spend the money to explore. I have recommended one company in this region that is sitting on a few key blocks. I'll keep you updated. Sincerely, Christian DeHaemer Energy & Capital

beautiful pic

Originally posted by Xudeedi: This piece was written long time ago prior to the Galgala invasion ............ Many prominent Makhiri writters have written about Puntland's offensives in the region as i have previously posted. There you go again, confusing the hell out of yourself. Is it an invasion by a hostile clan, or is it your mercenaries who are chasing Attam around? As for the “prominent” writers don’t make one puke with laughter. All the articles you posted are written by a gang that can be counted in one hand. They are using many different aliases but the fiction is unmistakable their hallmark is that they keep getting dates and numbers wrong..

^^^ lol. Just learn from your elder adeer and stop making up stories and living in fantasy... His recommendations were all valid, and did not include a mention of a seperate "Makhir admin" or any desire to destroy the Puntland state. He also did not show any suport for Al Shabaab and their agent Attam.

Dr. Abdirahaman, Issa Farah (Minister for Petroleum and Minerals), Abdiwali Hersi Nur (Deputy Minister for Livestock and Animal Husbandry), Farar Ali Jama (Finance Minister) – all of whom we met – are Australian Somalis. They looked after us like family, even contributing financially to help us through to the end. Issa basically mobilised the whole Puntland government who were unified in their support of us and the expedition. They ensured that we had the protection we needed, constantly accessing the best intelligence. The president gave us his blessing and provided us with his own special security forces for the first two days from Garowe to Qardho. We decided we should set off the next day. Faroole scored big here..

The following day, after a visit to a private school (up to year 10), we had a meeting with Ali Yusuf Ali, Deputy Minister for the Interior, Local Government and Rural Development. We discussed the route plan and risks. He basically gave us the all-clear to travel to Qardho and then on the more direct, least travelled route to Hafun. This was pending the final word from the president whom we were going to meet over dinner in the evening. At this point I was able to prepare myself to at least cycle the first leg, 210km up the main road to Qardho.

Most of the ministers grew up in Puntland but then left Somalia before or during the civil war to live and study in Western countries such as Australia, UK, Canada, US and New Zealand. They have all made the choice to return to form a government to make a difference to their homeland. Their commitment I find inspirational – the fact that they could have continued to have a comfortable Western lifestyle, but elect to return to their country and face constant danger and difficulties in order to improve the lives of their fellow Somalis. The Puntland government does not wish to secede from the federal government, as they do in Somaliland, they have elected to work with Mogadishu and govern their people until such time as the Somali government can regain control. Their hope is for a federal government which would retain overall control of the Somali states including Puntland. War and conflict pares development back to ground zero. With limited resources and funds, the government has a seemingly impossible mountain to climb, but the priorities the president outlined make perfect sense to achieve a more stable and sustainable future. Nothing can work without peace and justice, so eliminating Al Shabab and piracy is first priority.

Hafun has an ancient history as an important port dating back to Egyptian times. The town was destroyed by the Indian Ocean Tsunami in 2004 when the wave washed right across the isthmus, wiped out the buildings and messed up the open sewage system. The town had to be rebuilt beside the old settlement. The Italian-built salt works and jetty lay decaying beside the old town along with some garrison buildings before the entrance. The salt works was only used for about 15 years and had been disused since the Second World War.

source Thankful have you ever been to Haafun? the most easterly point of Africa.

Education is a major focus. With inadequate facilities and number of teachers, the education minister is procuring scholarships in neighbouring countries such as Sudan and Kenya to educate their stronger students to a higher level. Encouraging trade and investment is essential to kick start the economy. Currently the main source of trade is from livestock export. Encouraging exploration for oil and minerals should inject funds into the state. Of course there is much more that I have not outlined here. Dr. Abdirahaman, Issa Farah (Minister for Petroleum and Minerals), Abdiwali Hersi Nur (Deputy Minister for Livestock and Animal Husbandry), Farar Ali Jama (Finance Minister) – all of whom we met – are Australian Somalis. They looked after us like family, even contributing financially to help us through to the end. Issa basically mobilised the whole Puntland government who were unified in their support of us and the expedition. They ensured that we had the protection we needed, constantly accessing the best intelligence. The president gave us his blessing and provided us with his own special security forces for the first two days from Garowe to Qardho.

The first president of Puntland, Col. Abdullahi Yusuf, was a professional soldier feared by his enemies and widely respected by others. Much of the credit for building up a strong defense force for Puntland goes to him, and they were such a force that the state enjoyed peace both internally and externally throughout the entire period of his incumbency. Puntland’s noticeable decline came shortly after the departure of Col. Abdullahi to Nairobi where, after a long campaign, he ended up becoming the President of the TFG in 2004 until he resigned in 2008. Though Puntland was successful in enabling its first president to become the internationally recognized president of the entire country this came with a huge financial and material cost, which depleted its resources. Both the financing of his campaign and the military contingents it sent to him, not only as his protection force but also as a major contribution to a national army, which was said to be in the formative stage, weakened Puntland beyond measure both internally and externally. The man could teach many here something...

Puntland – The Finish by Kate on August 31, 2010 Photos Map Title: Garowe to Cape Hafun Dates: 11th - 16th August GPS: Distance: 585km Total Distance: 22.040km Roads: 210km tarmac, 375km rough tracks, stones, sand Weather: Extremely windy (tail, side and head winds), hot

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