burahadeer;868143 wrote: now "Macno yare".Never pirates amaze me,they always have a way to get out of reality..by insults & continous barrage of falsehead & stubborness. Otha somalis are not gona ask you a thing...waa la idinka tashaday. Burahadeer, The question is: kildhiga maxaa karka ka keeney?? You're observing frustration at its finest.... Let them blow the steam off! It's healthy, to say the least. All the best to Somalia and may its people find the peace they so richly deserve!

General Duke;868140 wrote: Another laughable response, with nothing new but meaningless emotional diatribe, My new President is being attacked by your biggest Hargaysa news letter as a an "extremist" anti secessionist.. Why is that my friend? Your ludicrous utterances aside, what are the facts? We have a Federal Parliament, a Federal Constitution and a President who has sworn to uphold the territorial integrity of Somalia. We have Somaliland government forced to accept the Federal Somalia passport as the only way for them to go to the Hajj and enter the Arab countries. Again these are facts; all you seem to be bringing to the table is how I might be feeling about Abdiweli & Abdullahi Yusuf. Again an out of touch secessionist who does not understand the change that is taking place in Somalia. @emotional... Classic! Dhegihiisa iyo afkiisu isma maqlaan... Anyway, rant away to your full pleasure.

General Duke;868127 wrote: Kindly explain? Why don't you ask your new President for an explanation? I'm sure he can give you a very good one on where things stand and why one of the two entities decided to go their own way. Sheekada ka dhex bax, the two administrations will continue their dialogue and a fair, mutually acceptable agreement will be reached, Insha'Allah. And thus far, from the modalities established in the first leg of those talks, three's a crowd!

Duke, we'll give you a few months to recover just like when A. Yusuf(A.U.) was booted out of Villa Somalia. With Abdiweli coming back state-side to join you, it will take a while for the shock to wear off. Illaahey ha kuu sahlo!

Note to Duke: Mogadishu and Hargeisa have a direct line to each other. They've each other's people living in the respective capitals conducting as normal a life as could be expected under the circumstances. The days of Mogadishu and Hargeisa needing a translator to talk to each other have passed more than 20 years ago. As for the new President, I suggest you listen to his campaign speech given in front of the Mogadishu parliament again to hear what he had to say about the Somaliland talks and his position on said talks. It might come as a shock to you Always running off half-cocked, Mr. Duke.... A weak attempt to start friction at a time of good will among all - some never change....

But isn't the problem that the Bryden's of the world understand the 'macros' of the Somali condition much better than the Somalis themselves who have difficulty in rising above the 'micro'? In particular, the 'micro' of the pocket/personal financial gain.

Baashi;867845 wrote: Now we have to factor in the resources and incumbents hold of all state trappings the office confers to them. Fatigue is another factor. So how does unknown novice pulled off? Two other figures who are reluctant to bow out are Sharif Sheikh Ahmed and his political foe Sharif Hassan Sheikh Adan. They are puzzled, we hear, by conflicting messages from Washington. The UN Eritrea and Somalia Working Group report was leaked on 18 July and it contained allegations of rampant corruption throughout the TFG. Some analysts believe US intelligence was responsible for the leak, timing it to be of greatest use to the enemies of the two Sharifs. 'I don't doubt that there has been high-level plunder by members of the TFG but the figures are inflated and they are being spun to make the two Sharifs look like the worst possible choices for president,' a source familiar with the background to the report told us. Yet, the United States State Department is still courting and complimenting both men as key partners in the country's political reconstruction. Somalis nowadays expect the mandate of President Sharif to be renewed. Africa Confidential Aug.3-2012 Irrespective of what others think of Matt Bryden and hidden agendas, the Monitoring Group Report was instrumental in bringing critical Western donors to agitate for a change in leadership behind the scenes. To reiterate your comment from another post, the 'stealth trusteeship' continues across Somali territories.

Faroole, by far, is the best president Puntland has had thus far. He's focused Puntland on its more stable, core constituency further solidifying the peace in the region. What's there not to like in the man?? Besides, he was put there by his people & claims to represent only his people - so who are you or any other non-Puntlander to call for his toppling?

Can someone give a comprehensive bio on Hassan Sheikh Mohamoud?

I was deeply impressed with the civility of the presidential speeches in the Parliament as well as the the outward maturity of the Parliamentarian listeners (in contrast to the 'thrown chair' fights of the past). It's a small sign of a change for the better. Hopefully, this will be the change that a tired, beaten-down population has been praying for. Kheyr, Insha'Allah!

Timur;864389 wrote: These are 60+ year old people who languished in Nairobi until they decided to lose as one unit instead of individually lol. If ten people with zero dollars put their money in a bag, does it equal ten dollars or zero dollars? That's the idiocy of this pointless "bloc" that the article mentions. None of them were going to get a single vote, so it won't change. But I encourage these candidates anyway, it's a free $10,000 fee towards the Somali government. LOL@ten people with zero dollars..... Classic

Abtigiis;863654 wrote: Marka ugu horeeysaa, haduu Cabdiweli madaxweyne noqdo eey eey dhalay oo ay iska dhaleen Faroole iyo General Duke iigu yeedha!! Marka Xiga, waxaan wacad ku marayaa inaan timaha iska xiiro, oo aan cidiyaha la baxo haday taasi dhacdo. Losers! Kolba qabyaaladiistaaba naloo soo mas masixi sidii qof quman! ........... LOL....Waryaahe Abtigiis, Maxaa kugu dhacay? Why all the vitriol?

Never mind...

With a failed gamble on Oil Extraction, Puntland experiences the old problem of financial shortfalls with yet another failure to pay the security forces. Hence the full press concentration on gaining control of the Federal Presidency in Mogadishu to gain access to the formidable economic pie that lies in Mogadishu. Below, HiiraanOnline reports on the salary issues. ------------------------------------------------------------------ Ciidamo ka cabanaya mushahar la'aan oo muddo saacado ah xiray jidka gala magaalada Boosaaso Sabti 1-da September 2012(HOL): Ciidamo ka tirsan Daraawiishta Puntland oo saldhig ku leh tuuladaKalabayr, oo magaalada Boosaaso qiyaastii 60km dhinaca koonfurta kaga beegan,ayaa maanta gelinkii hore muddo saacado ah xanibay isu socodka gaadiidka ee wadada magaalada Boosaaso gasha. Sarkaal ka tirsan ciidamada jidka xiray oo ka gaabsaday in magaciisala shaaciyo, ayaa HOL u sheegay in sababta arintan ka danbeysaa ay tahay kadibmarkii aysan dowladu muddo 2 bilood ah wax mushahar ah siin, wuxuuna intaas ku daray, in horay loogu sheegay marka la gaaro bishaSep in ay lacagahooda heli doonaan, haseyeeshee maanta lagu wargeliyey in lasiinayo mushaharka hal bil, midda kalena ay dib ka qaadan doonaan, taasina aytahay sababta ku kaliftay in ay talaabada noocan oo kale ah ku dhaqaaqaan. Mas'uuliyiin ka tirsan wasaaradda amniga Puntland ayaa markii danbegoobta gaarey, waxayna ku guuleysteen in ay ciidamada ka dhaadhiciyaan sidii ayjidka u furi lahaayeen, iyagoo dhinaca kale u balan qaaday in sida ugu dhaqsahabadan cabashadooda looga jawaabi doono. Inkasta oo ay xukuumadda hadda jirtaa dadaalo badan ku bixisay sidiiloo kordhin lahaa mushaharka ay ciidamadu qaataan, ayaa hadana weli waxaa jirtacabasho xooggan oo dhanka ciidamada ka imaaneysa, wuxuuna askarigu bil kastamushahar ahaan u qaataa 2,000,000 Milyan Sh.so oo u dhiganta wax ka yar 100$. Si kastaba ha ahaatee, waxay arintani kusoo beegmeysaa xilli dhowaanmadaxweynaha Puntland Cabdiraxmaan Maxamed (Faroole) uu sheegay in xaaladdadhaqaaluhu ay tahay mid cakiran, isagoona sabab uga dhigay hoos u dhaca qiimahaDollarka iyo Shilin Soomaaliga oo suuqyada ku yaraaday. Bishii April ee sanadkan 15-keedii ayey ahayd markii ciidamo iyaguna Daraawiishta ka tirsan,oo saldhig ku leh tuulada Laag oo magaalada Boosaaso 30km u jirtaa ay sidan ookale isu socodka gaadiidka u xanibeen. Maxamed S. Xaaji Dirir xaajidirir@hiiraan.com Boosaaso, Soomaaliya http://www.hiiraan.com/news/2012/Sept/wararka_maanta1-19162.htm

Xaaji Xunjuf;862929 wrote: True but if we have to acknowledge the support sh sharif is getting from the Turks who are very much involved in Somalia the same with Yoweri museveni with all his troops in Somalia. I believe these two countries are much more influential than Kenya when it comes to Somalia. The Ethiopians are still busy organizing the burial of their dead leader. We still have to wait Hailemariam Desalegn the Ethiopian prime minister to endorse one of the candidates he will do it after the burial of zanawi. The Ethiopians would never openly back a candidate given their awareness of traditional Somali antipathy to Ethiopia. They will do it behind the scenes and if their pick does not prevail, set up mini-territories controlled by allied militias within Somalia (the usual Ethiopian proxy battle). How much the current leadership transition in Addis distracts from their agenda in Somalia is yet to be seen. Museveni is influential given the large AMISOM contingent he's providing and the fact that their security is most affected by Sharif's constituency makes an alliance with Sharif natural. The Turks, I feel, are punching above their weight and don't yet have enough hard power in the region to make the significant difference they seek. Plus, they faced opposition from the West in their past propositions for the Somali quagmire. They've strongly lobbied in the past for the inclusion of elements of Al Shabaab into the reconciliation process - but this was vetoed by the combined diplomatic power of the West(primarily the U.S. and the E.U.). Their influence could be increased by the new parliament, which according to many, is even more filled with Islamist diaspora than the previous one. It's the U.S. with its huge investment in both military and intelligence resources that's the wild card. Which U.S. Federal agency/department gets to lead the Somalia portfolio will determine which side the U.S. supports.... But at the end, Somalis could ultimately end up frustrating the best laid plans of foreigners

So far, as reported by international analysts following the Mogadishu competition: Abdiweli supported by Kenya Sharif Ahmed supported by Turkey, Qatar, and Uganda. Both the U.S. and Ethiopia have not publicly played their hand yet.

The Kenyans are firmly behind Abdiweli in the presidential quest. Sharif Ahmed has shown himself against Kenyan interests with his previous objections against Kenya's plans for a Jubba/Azania buffer zone. We'll see how it plays out.

Hate him or like him, if you've read the Wikileaks State Dept cables, Sharif Hassan comes across as the most reasoned and rational from a Western perspective of the current TFG actors. All others were simply seen as openly pushing a narrow, clan-agenda in their private meetings with U.S. and other Western diplomats. Plus, he was labeled as the most sensitive to Ethiopia's interests among the current leadership (a favorable characteristic from security-centric Western viewpoints). It will be interesting to see what role he plays from this point on. After all, this man has played a central role in the TFG saga for the last near decade....

Carafaat;862258 wrote: Justice is sweet. Who is next? Indeed, it is! Now, starts the financial forensics of where the assets have been hidden. Something tells me there will be trips to Italy in the near future

One day later..... --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- April 4, 2012 Deadly Blast Shatters Calm in Somali Capital By MOHAMMED IBRAHIM and J. DAVID GOODMAN MOGADISHU, Somalia — A deadly bomb exploded during a ceremony on Wednesday at the newly reopened National Theater in the Somali capital as the prime minister was addressing the guests, turning an event that had been a welcome sign of growing calm into a grisly reminder of the many troubles still plaguing the country. Officials said the prime minister was unhurt but the death toll was not immediately clear. The event had been attended by many other high-ranking officials, journalists and civil society activists. Reuters said at least six people had been killed and scores wounded. The Associated Press put the toll at 10 and said two top sports officials were among the dead. “The prime minister was speaking inside the theater when the blast took place,” Prosper Hakizimana, an African Union spokesman, told Reuters. Somali officials said a female suicide bomber was responsible. But in a claim of responsibility, the Shabab, Somalia’s radical Islamist insurgent group, said its operatives had planted explosives at the theater in advance. “Everything was carefully planned and orchestrated,” the organization said in Twitter message. The blast came amid significant signs of improvement in the capital, Mogadishu, a rubble-filled city ravaged by 21 years of civil war. Mogadishu has been enjoying a prolonged period of relative peace, preserved in part by 10,000 African Union troops, soon to be increased to 17,000, who patrol the streets in tanks, artillery and armored personnel carriers. Hundreds of thousands of residents have returned in recent months, aid groups said, fueling an economic boom that has created thousands of jobs and had begun to draw young men away from violence and bloodletting. Construction is taking place across the city, yielding new hospitals, homes, shops and a hotel. The theater, which remains without a roof since it was destroyed during Somalia’s civil war, had recently held its first concert in more than two decades, during which time the space had been used as a weapons depot and then as a toilet. But the powerful blast transformed the hopeful gathering there late Wednesday morning into a macabre scene. Photographs showed one of the dead slumped but still seated in his black chair as sun streamed into the theater. Security forces helped dazed and bloodied survivors to ambulances waiting outside. Following the reported deaths of the sports officials, Aden Yabarow Wiish, president of the Somali Olympic Committee, and Said Mohamed Nur, the chief of the country’s soccer federation, the International Olympic Committee said in a statement that both men had been “engaged in improving the lives of Somalian people through sport and we strongly condemn such an act of barbarism.” Mohammed Ibrahim reported from Mogadishu, Somalia, and J. David Goodman from New York. http://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/05/world/africa/deadly-blast-shatters-calm-in-somali-capital.html?hp&gwh=5FE17C4C8C0A26AEAB1D2B46370211A6

Another issue: the Transitional Federal Government, Somalia’s internationally recognized authority, which is widely viewed as corrupt and weak. Mr. Egal said that when he arrived, officials from the central bank asked him to pay a $100,000 “registration fee.” “I said, a hundred thousand dollar, for what?” He refused and they went away, he said. When asked about this in an e-mail, Abdirahman Omar Osman, a government spokesman, wrote back saying, “Hahahahaha, this is absolutely not true.” The spokesman added: “Corruption is the thing of the past.” The Artist Abdullah Abdirahman Abdullah Alif, a wiry artist, still gets death threats for the satirical cartoons he pens. Bombs still go off on a weekly basis. “But at least I have a job,” he says. “The way I see it, we’re in transition,” and he has a 10-foot-long canvas to illustrate the point. A teenage boy — half flesh, half skeleton — stands in the middle of the painting, one hand clutching a dove, the other a rifle. Behind him are two very different futures: verdant fields, juicy melons and pretty buildings versus flames, graves, vultures and fire. “We made this real simple,” explained Mr. Alif, with a Business Royal brand cigarette hanging off his lip. “A young boy is the backbone of society and we want young boys to look at this and understand they have a choice right now, death and destruction or peace.” Mr. Alif, 40, is part of a team of artists who just emerged from years in hiding and have been commissioned, by a Somali nonprofit group, for the respectable wage of $400 a month to make giant paintings promoting peace. Their work will be displayed on busy street corners, the two-dimensional equivalent of a public service advertisement in a society without many TVs. During the Shabab years, Mr. Alif had a price on his head for drawings that were deemed un-Islamic. When he finally fled his neighborhood, looters snatched his file cabinets housing all his artwork. “Twenty-six thousand drawings,” he said. “Gone.” But his spirits seem buoyed by the artistic revival now under way. A group of musicians gathered for a recent afternoon jam session, the tunes blaring, their heads bobbing. The women were smoking cigarettes and chewing qat. During the Shabab days, they could have been killed for doing that. “Step by step by step by step,” Mr. Alif smiled. The Policewoman So much of Mogadishu’s progress hinges on something basic but elusive: security. That is where Khadija Hajji Diriye comes in. Solidly constructed from her broad shoulders down to her ankles, Ms. Diriye, 35, struts into the Waberi police station where she works. She grunts hello and a colleague casually hands her an AK-47. “Once,” she says, the rifle firmly in her hands, her eyes bright like sparks, “the Shabab were just across the street and I was firing away.” She says she is treated the same as male officers, except for not being allowed to carry a pistol because someone might try to attack her and steal it. Her station is like a Mogadishu version of “Hill Street Blues.” Veiled women and prayer-capped men (some with daggers tucked in their robes) flow through the gates in a constant stream to take their seats at a big desk and make complaints — spousal abuse, stab wounds, contractual disputes, a missing TV. The officers type up reports with an ancient typewriter and occasionally investigate and make arrests. Abdi Ismail Samatar, a Somali-American geography professor, said now that Mogadishu’s turnaround has begun, “everything depends on institutions” like the police. “The private sector can only go so far,” he said. “Now it’s up to the folks on the hill.” But the folks on the hill — meaning Villa Somalia, the hilltop presidential palace — still seem as dysfunctional as ever. Two men are claiming to be speaker of Parliament, paralyzing all lawmaking, and millions of dollars are missing, a former government official recently revealed. It is no surprise, then, that the most important government employees — i.e. the security forces — often do not get paid. Ms. Diriye is supposed to make $100 a month but she says she rarely sees that. Her living conditions are atrocious. Her husband was murdered several years ago and she squats with her five children in a crumbling wreck of a house by the sea. Her roof leaks, her mattress is ripped, there is no bathroom and no electricity. She sticks with the job, she says, because she is patriotic. “In 1991, when the government collapsed, that was the worst time in my life,” she said. “So how can I leave now? We can smell a government coming.” The Assassin Abdul Kader used to hunt police officers like Ms. Diriye, government officials, intellectuals and the occasional religious sheik. He hardly looks like an assassin, with pudgy cheeks and a little beard struggling to take root on his chin. But he says (and others have confirmed it) that he was part of the Amneeyat, the Shabab’s secret police, essentially a hit squad. “They split us into teams,” he explained. “The commander would tell us our target and we’d watch him for a whole day, morning till night. Sometimes we’d even watch him a whole week. Then we’d make a plan. Then we’d kill him.” Abdul Kader betrays little emotion, neither bravado nor much regret. He said that his weapon of choice was a .30-caliber pistol and that he was involved in more than 50 assassinations. “I heard many people begging for their lives,” he said. He tries not to think about it. Abdul Kader (he wanted only his first name to be used, for obvious reasons) joined his first militia about six years ago, when he was 20. With Somalia’s economy in ruins, militias and piracy gangs were about the only ones hiring. He eventually grew numb to taking life, he said, but could see that the Shabab was losing to “the outside forces,” the superiorly armed African Union troops who arrived in 2007 and have steadily battered the Shabab until they pulled out of Mogadishu in August, creating this period of relative peace. Though the Shabab still control some territory in southern Somalia and stage bomb attacks in Mogadishu, their power is rapidly fading. Kenyan and Ethiopian forces are overpowering them in the hinterlands, and the African Union is now pushing outward from Mogadishu. For Abdul Kader, the last straw was when he was assigned to assassinate his cousin, a pro-government militiaman. He wanted to defect, but first had to ask his father’s permission. His father said yes, please come home. This was several months ago, and he is still checking over his shoulder for any signs of his former colleagues. Like many other former militiamen, he seems lost. “I just want a normal job,” he said. Like what? He thought for a few seconds and answered, “I’d be happy as a driver.” http://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/04/world/africa/somalis-embrace-hope-and-reconstruction-in-mogadishu.html?hp

April 3, 2012 A Taste of Hope in Mogadishu By JEFFREY GETTLEMAN MOGADISHU, Somalia — Up until a few weeks ago, all visitors who landed at Aden Abdulle International Airport in Mogadishu were handed a poorly copied, barely readable sheet that asked for name, address — and caliber of weapon. No more. Now visitors get a bright yellow welcome card that has no mention of guns and several choices for reason of visit, including a new category: holiday. Outside, on Mogadishu’s streets, the thwat-thwat-thwat hammering sound that rings out in the mornings is not the clatter of machine guns but the sound of actual hammers. Construction is going on everywhere — new hospitals, new homes, new shops, a six-story hotel and even sports bars (albeit serving cappuccino and fruit juice instead of beer). Painters are painting again, and Somali singers just held their first concert in more than two decades at the National Theater, which used to be a weapons depot and then a national toilet. Up next: a televised, countrywide talent show, essentially “Somali Idol.” Mogadishu, Somalia’s capital, which had been reduced to rubble during 21 years of civil war, becoming a byword for anarchy, is making a remarkable comeback. The Shabab, the fearsome insurgents who once controlled much of the country, withdrew from the city in August and have been besieged on multiple sides by troops from the African Union, Kenya, Ethiopia and an array of local militias. Now, one superpower is left in the capital — the African Union, with 10,000 troops (soon to be 17,000), tanks, artillery and armored personnel carriers that constantly chug up and down the street — and the city is enjoying its longest epoch of relative peace since 1991: eight months and counting. “It’s a rebirth,” grinned Omar Osman, a Somali-American software engineer who worked for Delta Air Lines in Atlanta and just moved back here. “Call it Somalia 2.0.” Clearly, this city and the rest of Somalia still have a long way to go. A suicide bomber recently struck at the gates of the presidential palace, and a stray mortar shell crashed into a refugee camp, killing six. A few warlords are still lurking around and clan-based militias have reared their heads in some neighborhoods, a potent reminder of the clan-driven chaos that dominated Mogadishu for so long. But people here are sensing the moment and seizing it. More than 300,000 residents have come back to the city in the past six months, local aid groups say, and many are cheerfully carting away chunks of rumble and resurrecting their bullet-riddled homes. The economic boom, fueled by an infusion of tens of millions of dollars, much of it from Somalis flocking home from overseas, is spawning thousands of jobs that are beginning to absorb young militiamen eager to get out of the killing business. Given Mogadishu’s importance to the country, it all adds up to a huge opportunity. And though Somalia has self-destructed numerous times before, Augustine Mahiga, the head of the United Nations political office for Somalia, along with so many others here, insisted that this time really is different. Somalia, they contend, is finally turning around. “For the first time since 1991, Mogadishu is under one authority,” Mr. Mahiga said from a new office that exuded the whiff of fresh paint. “It’s unprecedented.” All across town, people who have no connection to each other and who come from very different walks of life describe the same new, strange feeling: hope. The Fishmonger The room is packed, the flies are swarming, and the floor is sticky with thick, black blood. “Four million!” shouts Mohammed Sheik Nur Taatey, emphatically waving four stubby fingers. “Give me four million. I won’t take a shilling less.” This is economics at its most elemental — supply and demand, seller and buyer, Mr. Taatey and the brawny, sweaty, pushy crowd. The arena: Mogadishu’s fish market, a long, skinny, seaside building where many thousands of dollars’ worth of fish are sold every day. Mr. Taatey, 38, is a fishmonger, presiding over the day’s catch and auctioning it off to wholesale buyers. His personal finances have soared in the past several months, an apt example, especially in this case, that a rising tide lifts all boats. The surge of people returning to Mogadishu and the opening of new restaurants and hotels have steadily driven up the price of fish, from about 50 cents a pound a few years ago, when Mogadishu was a shellshocked ghost town, to $2 today. And the catch is quite good, an upbeat sign for Somalia’s reviving seafood industry, which has recently caught the eye of Asian investors. Just the other day, porter after porter stumbled through the fish market’s doorway quivering under the weight of 150-pound blue marlins slung across their shoulders. “Oh, look, shark-fish!” Mr. Taatey shouted out in exuberant, broken English as a team of fishermen dragged in a 400-pound shark. Mr. Taatey promptly sold it for $600. A few minutes later, with bricks of Somali shillings in his arms and sweat trickling down his temples, he said, “These are the best times of my life.” That day he made $27. Born in the old part of town, where the coral block houses lean drunkenly toward the sea, Mr. Taatey had watched in despair as rival militias from clans much bigger than his own leveled Mogadishu after the government collapsed in 1991. Sometimes it was so dangerous to step outside that Mr. Taatey could not sell fish, leaving his family to a single meal a day — a bowl of gruel. But nowadays Mr. Taatey leisurely strolls back to his apartment, in black acid-washed jeans and a short-sleeve hoodie, joining his children for a midday snack of bananas, potatoes, pancakes and soup. “I feel lucky,” Mr. Taatey said with a huge smile, sitting in the middle of what looked like a nursery school class. “I have 14 children. Some people have none.” The Banker While Mr. Taatey deposits his profits in the bulging pockets of his acid-washed jeans, Liban Egal has another idea: a bank. While his hometown was drowning in chaos, Mr. Egal, true to Somalis’ legendary entrepreneurial spirit, was running a small empire of check-cashing shops and fried chicken restaurants in inner-city Baltimore. Somali traders are celebrated across Africa for their pluck, often the first to set up shop in a slum or a far-off village, and Mr. Egal, who emigrated to the United States in the late 1980s, was clearly part of this tradition. Now he is opening First Somali Bank, one of the country’s first bona fide commercial banks, and he plans to soon branch into high-speed Internet service, solar panels and fish factories. He says now is the precise time, neither too early nor too late, to invest in Somalia because security has drastically improved but taxes are still low. “I was rushing to get this in,” he said, patting a $115,000 satellite dish that he paid only $900 to import. “Things are changing as we speak.” The Somali shilling has been surging in value, from 33,000 shillings to the dollar six months ago to 20,000 today. Real estate prices are skyrocketing because of all the international organizations coming back to Mogadishu after a 20-year hiatus. The famine that swept southern Somalia last year killed tens of thousands of people but also spurred new interest in this country and brought in new players like the Turks, who arrived handing out food aid and are now doing business. Last month, Turkish Airlines started twice-weekly flights between Istanbul and Mogadishu. On a recent morning, Mr. Egal, 42, proudly unfurled a new banner only to be scolded by one of his partners that they could not use it in the bank because it had a picture of a camel. Some Islamic scholars say it is forbidden to depict animate objects. “Damn, man,” Mr. Egal grumbled. “I liked that camel.”

If you read the Wikileaks cables, he seems the most disciplined political actor in the South when meeting with the international community. Doesn't overpromise, stays above the fray in his statements to the foreign delegations without coming across as overly partisan. He is an Ethiopian pawn according to most analysts and has full Ethiopian backing whenever engaged in a political struggle with other actors.

Sayid, ma aragtey sawirada la soo post-gareeyey of the Ethiopian cities and how the infrastructure of a medium Ethiopian city shames the most developed of the Somali cities? The Ethiopians have put the largesse of the West and Chinese to good use while we're busy purchasing overpriced AK47's. But I still stand by my observation that this(might) is what gets a geeljire's attention. Maybe the generation about to be born will be different.

^^ The beaming smile of incumbency That seat must be sweet from the smile. I remember when Rayaale used to have that smile...