Originally posted by Thankful: In early February, Yigal Palmor, spokesman for Israel's Foreign Ministry, reportedly told the Somalia media that Israel was prepared to recognize the breakaway territory of Somaliland, which split from Somalia in 1991, as an independent nation. In another article, this same UPI news agency states that the source is 'GolisNews.com'. Once again, this is only a Somali 'ku tidhi, ku teen' story....

Yey was exiled and Faroole will increasingly be isolated with the release of this report by the Security Council. So Duke, what's next? I gave you & Xiin free advice over a year ago when I told you no funds are forthcoming but you refused to listen. What now? Remember this report is issued by the Somali Monitoring Group which comes under the Sanctions Committee of the Security Council. This same Somali Monitoring Group released a report a few years ago which so alarmed the Security Council about Al Shabaab and its sources of support that within weeks, the U.S. gave the go ahead for the Ethiopians to invade Mogadishu... Something to ponder.....

^^ No it's just Duke's attempt to divert from the Security Council's unmasking of Puntland as the official Vatican of Pirate activity in the Horn.

The repercussions of this report are easy to predict. For the TFG, it will damage their already weak reputation, but Western donors are still reluctant to cut off life support due to fear of an Al Shabaab-led administration in Somalia. As for Puntland, the elusive quest for direct international financial assistance for the last year (such ideas as funding a Puntland-based Coast Guard Corps were floated, along with a Constitution-drafting institute in Garowe) is officially dead with the drafting of this report. Humanitarian assistance will continue as usual for Puntland, but until the next change of leadership(or a drastic change in the current geopolitics of the region), it will find itself increasingly sidelined by Western governments. You'll see Faroole increasing his trips to the Arab states in order to cultivate new outlets for Puntland's ambitions.

It's not an issue of Israel being a boogeyman, it's an issue of an outright lie! No such statement was ever made by an Israeli politician or government official. Every story that's ever mentioned this baseless rumor has used 'ku tidhi, ku teen' Somali websites as their source. The original story claimed the interview with the Israeli Foreign Ministry official was featured in the Haaretz newspaper. That was false. Any child with an internet connection can check at Haaretz.com . No such story ever appeared on that newspaper. It's all a ploy to shoot Somaliland economically on the foot, now that the economy is in boom times with the lifting of the livestock ban by Saudi Arabia. Same tactic was used in the late '90s by the enemies of Somaliland, some of whom are Somalilanders themselves. Wake up, people!

Che, This is the UN system. It's the same in Darfur, East Timor during the troubles, etc. This is how the UN always functioned. Plus hardship differential in pay, they also get a daily per diem. Nothing new, my friend. And it's not going to change, not for you, and not for me. But we're digressing from the main point! What impact do you think this Security Council report will have on the entities mentioned and their relations with multilateral/bilateral organizations and governments?

Originally posted by Nassir: Check this post. http://www.somaliaonline.com/ubb/ultimatebb.php?/topic/9/14934 Mintid, you have an ax to grind here as it is evident with your obsession of Puntland. Faroole is a personality but Puntland stands for a governing system alternative to the anarchy that has plagued the south. Both TFG and Puntland as well as Somaliland should outlast the personnel within them, from transitional perspective, of course, into a permenant government of national union. I don't write for the NYTimes nor am I a member of the the UN Security Council, saaxiib Make your point with them...

Originally posted by Thankful: Che, this is a serious matter through if the UN Security Council is coming out with a report that is accusing President Faroole of this!!! I wonder what evidence they have to make this allegation! Maybe the captured pirates have been singing like canaries... Maybe telecommunication intercepts...

It was the research contained in this report that forced the U.S. Government to suspend all American food aid destined for Somalia(the South) which was usually dispersed through WFP. This suspension of aid flow on the U.S. side had been in effect for weeks now. Just goes to show how seriously this report is being taken by the donor community/external actors.

Two things, though, that are contradictory in recent reports from Somalia watchers. On one hand, we get all these reports of the coming government offensive with armored TFG forces ready to push their opponents out of Mogadishu and Kismayo among other areas. But on the other hand, this latest report from the Somalia Monitoring Group of the Security Council claims: Somalia’s security forces “remain ineffective, disorganized and corrupt — a composite of independent militias loyal to senior government officials and military officers who profit from the business of war.” The contradiction is glaring...

Che, your attempts to minimize the blow/impact of this report are noted

I've seen some segments of this report. While only one Somali businessman from the Mogadishu business community is mentioned in the NYTimes article, the other two are Abukar Adani and Mohamed Deylaf. Abdulkadir Nur is the only one mentioned in the NYTimes summary. The Security Council with the strong urging of the United States has debated sanctioning these three individuals, but Sharif in a letter to Secretary-General Ban Ki Moon in September 2009, asked Ban not to allow the UN Security Council to sanction the businessmen without consulting him first. Another interesting highlight of this report is the definitive connection finally made between the highest levels of Puntland leadership and the Pirates.

March 9, 2010 Half of Food Aid to Somalia Is Diverted, Report Says By JEFFREY GETTLEMAN and NEIL MacFARQUHAR As much as half the food aid sent to Somalia is diverted from needy people to a web of corrupt contractors, radical Islamist militants and local United Nations staff, according to a new Security Council report. The report, which has not yet been made public but was shown to The New York Times, outlines a host of problems so grave that it recommends Secretary General Ban Ki-moon open an independent investigation into the World Food Program there. It suggests that the program rebuild the food distribution system — which serves at least 2.5 million people — from scratch to break what it describes as a corrupt cartel of Somali distributors. In addition to the diversion of food aid, regional Somali authorities are collaborating with pirates who hijack ships along the lawless coast , the report says, and Somali government ministers have auctioned off diplomatic visas for trips to Europe to the highest bidder, some of whom may have been pirates or insurgent s. Somali officials denied the visa problem was widespread, and officials for the World Food Program said they had not yet seen the report but would investigate its conclusions once it was presented to the Security Council on March 16. The report comes as Somalia’s transitional government is preparing for a military major offensive to retake the capital, Mogadishu, and combat an Islamist insurgency with connections to Al Qaeda. The United States is providing military aid, as the United Nations tries to roll back two decades of anarchy in the country. But it may be an uphill battle. According to the report, Somalia’s security forces “remain ineffective, disorganized and corrupt — a composite of independent militias loyal to senior government officials and military officers who profit from the business of war.” One American official recently conceded that Somalia’s “best hope” was the government’s new military chief, a 60-year-old former artillery officer who, until a few months ago, was assistant manager at a McDonald’s in suburban Germany. The report’s investigators were originally asked to track violations of the United Nations arms embargo on Somalia, but the mandate was expanded. Several of the reports’ authors have received specific death threats, and the United Nations recently relocated them from Kenya to New York for safety reasons. Possible aid obstructions have been a nettlesome topic for Somalia over the past year and have contributed to the American government holding up aid shipments and United Nations officials recently suspending food programs in some areas. It singles out the World Food Program, the single largest aid agency in the crisis-wracked country, as particularly flawed. “Some humanitarian resources, notably food aid, have been diverted to military uses,” the report said. “A handful of Somali contractors for aid agencies have formed a cartel and become important power brokers — some of whom channel their profits — or the aid itself — directly to armed opposition groups.” These allegations of food aid diversions first surfaced last year, and the World Food Program has consistently denied finding any proof of malfeasance and said that its own recent internal audit found no widespread abuse. “We have not yet seen the U.N. Somalia Monitoring Group report,” the World Food Program’s Deputy Executive Director, Amir Abdulla, said Tuesday. “But we will investigate all of the allegations as we have always done in the past if questions have been raised about our operations.” The current report’s investigators question how independent that past audit was, and called for an new outside investigation of the United Nations agency. “We have to tell these folks that you cannot go on like this, we know what you are doing, you can’t fool us anymore, so you better stop,” said President Ali Bongo Ondimba of Gabon, who was at the United Nations, where his country holds the reins of the Security Council this month. The report also charges that Somali officials are selling spots on trips to Europe and that many of the people who are presented as part of an official government entourage are actually pirates or members of militant groups. The report says that Somali officials use their connections to foreign governments to get visas and travel documents for people who would not otherwise be able to travel abroad and that many of these people then disappear into Europe and do not come back. “Somali ministers, members of parliament, diplomats and ‘freelance brokers’ have transformed access to foreign visas into a growth industry, matched possibly only by piracy, selling visas for $10-15,000 each,” the report said. The reports’ authors estimate that dozens, if not hundreds, of Somalis have gained access to Europe or beyond through this under-the-table visa business. “Maybe there’s been one or two cases that have happened over the years,” said Mohamed Osman Aden, a Somali diplomat in Kenya. “But these are just rumors. These allegations have been going around for years.” The report also takes aim at some of Somalia’s richest, most influential businessmen, Somalia’s so-called money lords. One, Abdulkadir M. Nur, known as Eno, is married to a woman who plays a prominent role in a local aid agency that is supposed to verify whether food aid is actually delivered. That “potential loophole” that could “offer considerable potential of large-scale diversion,” the report said. It also accuses Mr. Nur of staging the hijacking of his own trucks and then later selling the food. In an email to The Times, Mr. Nur said he had sent the investigators many documents that “showed very clearly that the gossip and rumors they are investigating are untrue,” including the alleged hijacking or any link to insurgents. He said his wife merely sits on the board of the local aid agency and that only “a tiny fraction” of the food he transported was designated for that aid agency. In September Somalia’s president, Sheik Sharif Sheik Ahmed, wrote a letter to Mr. Ban, the Secretary General, defending Mr. Nur as a “very conscientious, diligent, and hardworking person” and saying that if it was not for the contractors, “many Somalis would have perished.” The report questions why the World Food Program would steer 80 percent of its transportation contracts for Somalia, worth about $200 million, to three Somali businessmen, especially when they are suspected of connections to Islamist insurgents. The report says that fraud is pervasive, with approximately 30 percent of aid skimmed by local partners and local World Food Program personnel, 10 percent by the ground transporters and 5 to 10 percent by the armed group in control of the area. That means as much as half of food never makes it to the people who desperately need it. In January, the American government halted tens of millions of dollars of aid shipments to southern Somalia because of fears of such diversions, and American officials believe that some of the aid may have fallen into the hands of the Shabab, the most militant of Somalia’s insurgent groups. The report also said that the president of Puntland, a semi-autonomous region in northern Somalia, has extensive ties to pirates in the area, who then funnel some of the money they make from hijacking ships to authorities . Puntland authorities were unable to be reached on Tuesday, but Mr. Mohamed, the Somali diplomat, dismissed the allegations, saying that the Puntland government has jailed more than 150 pirates and hasn’t “received a penny from them.” “It’s unfortunate that this monitoring group thinks they can stick everything on the Somalis,” he said. Jeffrey Gettleman reported from Gisenyi, Rwanda, and Neil MacFarquhar reported from New York. NY Times Link

Meanwhile, I hear things are not going so well on the Buuro Wadal/Khusuusi front! Maxaa ka jira, yaa Dalmar??

Waan soo socdaa, KOW DHEH. Waxna waan soo sidaa, LABA DHEH...

Cowke, relax... This is a problem that afflicts all Somali municipalities due to crushing poverty. It's not regional or clan-based, it's everywhere. Looking at the pictures, one is left with a feeling of deep sadness, whether it's pictures of kids from Bosasso, Xamar, Baydhowa, Hargeisa, etc. Even in that miserable state of poverty, there's nothing more beautiful and as full of hope as the Somali child. Illaahey ha inoo sahlo!

Originally posted by Ducaysane: So, When the federal government re-takes the capital, we will end up Shariif, Indhocade and co to be our leaders? disaster walaahay. maraykan danta soomalida ma wado. In my opinion, shabaab should be given an oppurtunity to rule entire somalia. They are the only group capable bring SomaliLand and Puntand to the fold. I have a question for those who hold the above viewpoint: Which is more important? A- Having a unitary Somali state, or B- The welfare of the Somali people Take two minutes to think about that before you answer...

Originally posted by Ducaysane: So, When the federal government re-takes the capital, we will end up Shariif, Indhocade and co to be our leaders? disaster walaahay. maraykan danta soomalida ma wado. In my opinion, shabaab should be given an oppurtunity to rule entire somalia. They are the only group capable bring SomaliLand and Puntand to the fold. I have a question for those who hold the above viewpoint: Which is more important? A- Having a unitary Somali state, or B- The welfare of the Somali people Take two minutes to think about that before you answer...

Originally posted by Ducaysane: So, When the federal government re-takes the capital, we will end up Shariif, Indhocade and co to be our leaders? disaster walaahay. maraykan danta soomalida ma wado. In my opinion, shabaab should be given an oppurtunity to rule entire somalia. They are the only group capable bring SomaliLand and Puntand to the fold. I have a question for those who hold the above viewpoint: Which is more important? A- Having a unitary Somali state, or B- The welfare of the Somali people Take two minutes to think about that before you answer...

If I was a decision-maker in the Sharif gov't, I would not publicize clandestine security support from the U.S. Grassroots nomads are xenophonobic and would grudgingly shift support to Al Shabaab and company against those supported by 'Gaallo'. This has been the case in the past, even as far back as the hunt for Aideed in '93. This can potentially reverse the loss of support for Al Shabaab after the departure of the Ethiopian troops. Think with your heads, gentlemen, not your emotions.

If I was a decision-maker in the Sharif gov't, I would not publicize clandestine security support from the U.S. Grassroots nomads are xenophonobic and would grudgingly shift support to Al Shabaab and company against those supported by 'Gaallo'. This has been the case in the past, even as far back as the hunt for Aideed in '93. This can potentially reverse the loss of support for Al Shabaab after the departure of the Ethiopian troops. Think with your heads, gentlemen, not your emotions.

If I was a decision-maker in the Sharif gov't, I would not publicize clandestine security support from the U.S. Grassroots nomads are xenophonobic and would grudgingly shift support to Al Shabaab and company against those supported by 'Gaallo'. This has been the case in the past, even as far back as the hunt for Aideed in '93. This can potentially reverse the loss of support for Al Shabaab after the departure of the Ethiopian troops. Think with your heads, gentlemen, not your emotions.

As much as I would like to see the eradication of Al Shabaab on the Somali peninsula, this is not the way nor will it ultimately work. Now before the 'Amen' corner jumps down my throat, let's first accept a few facts: The Somali people, regardless of clan, are an extremely proud people that are innately hostile to any outward signs of foreign interference in their internal affairs. It's precisely for this reason that the previous U.S. backing for the Warlord Alliance mentioned in the article as well as the support for Abdullahi Yusuf/Ethiopian invasion failed. Once the governing candidate is seen as a stooge of a foreign hand, the bulk of the local Somali population tends to support the other side. This is the failure of the Sharif camp. While they've made a few weak attempts at highlighting the foreign hands behind Al Shabaab (which are present), it's actually the Sharif gov't that's hiding behind foreign tanks (in the public imagination). Greater public military support of the Sharif government by foreign powers will only strengthen Al Shabaab. Now, notice I said 'greater public military support by Foreign powers' - meaning this same level of support by the U.S. and other foreign powers could've been provided without all the media and fanfare. What's lacking in the Sharif government is ' ownership' of the Somali problem and governing mechanisms. Without the perception of a Somali-ownership solution to the southern Somalia problem, the Sharif government will always be on foreign life support! P.S. "The Americans have provided covert training to Somali intelligence officers, logistical support to the peacekeepers, fuel for the maneuvers, surveillance information about insurgent positions and money for bullets and guns." What's the utility of having this kind of confidential military/intelligence information on the NYTimes?

As much as I would like to see the eradication of Al Shabaab on the Somali peninsula, this is not the way nor will it ultimately work. Now before the 'Amen' corner jumps down my throat, let's first accept a few facts: The Somali people, regardless of clan, are an extremely proud people that are innately hostile to any outward signs of foreign interference in their internal affairs. It's precisely for this reason that the previous U.S. backing for the Warlord Alliance mentioned in the article as well as the support for Abdullahi Yusuf/Ethiopian invasion failed. Once the governing candidate is seen as a stooge of a foreign hand, the bulk of the local Somali population tends to support the other side. This is the failure of the Sharif camp. While they've made a few weak attempts at highlighting the foreign hands behind Al Shabaab (which are present), it's actually the Sharif gov't that's hiding behind foreign tanks (in the public imagination). Greater public military support of the Sharif government by foreign powers will only strengthen Al Shabaab. Now, notice I said 'greater public military support by Foreign powers' - meaning this same level of support by the U.S. and other foreign powers could've been provided without all the media and fanfare. What's lacking in the Sharif government is ' ownership' of the Somali problem and governing mechanisms. Without the perception of a Somali-ownership solution to the southern Somalia problem, the Sharif government will always be on foreign life support! P.S. "The Americans have provided covert training to Somali intelligence officers, logistical support to the peacekeepers, fuel for the maneuvers, surveillance information about insurgent positions and money for bullets and guns." What's the utility of having this kind of confidential military/intelligence information on the NYTimes?

As much as I would like to see the eradication of Al Shabaab on the Somali peninsula, this is not the way nor will it ultimately work. Now before the 'Amen' corner jumps down my throat, let's first accept a few facts: The Somali people, regardless of clan, are an extremely proud people that are innately hostile to any outward signs of foreign interference in their internal affairs. It's precisely for this reason that the previous U.S. backing for the Warlord Alliance mentioned in the article as well as the support for Abdullahi Yusuf/Ethiopian invasion failed. Once the governing candidate is seen as a stooge of a foreign hand, the bulk of the local Somali population tends to support the other side. This is the failure of the Sharif camp. While they've made a few weak attempts at highlighting the foreign hands behind Al Shabaab (which are present), it's actually the Sharif gov't that's hiding behind foreign tanks (in the public imagination). Greater public military support of the Sharif government by foreign powers will only strengthen Al Shabaab. Now, notice I said 'greater public military support by Foreign powers' - meaning this same level of support by the U.S. and other foreign powers could've been provided without all the media and fanfare. What's lacking in the Sharif government is ' ownership' of the Somali problem and governing mechanisms. Without the perception of a Somali-ownership solution to the southern Somalia problem, the Sharif government will always be on foreign life support! P.S. "The Americans have provided covert training to Somali intelligence officers, logistical support to the peacekeepers, fuel for the maneuvers, surveillance information about insurgent positions and money for bullets and guns." What's the utility of having this kind of confidential military/intelligence information on the NYTimes?