Originally posted by Geel_jire: a very transparent strategy by Rayaale. the heat was being turned on him, what better way to deflect then with an unnecessary battle. Xaaji su'aal baan qabaa ! Why now ? .. The Las canood issue has been outstanding dispute for a number of years .. why the new found appetite for conflict ? and can it possibly be used to justify pushing elections back again for x number of years ? Because Puntland is a sitting duck right now... It's the real world, my friend, and this is how the game is played. Who's going to complain about peaceful, free-election holding Somaliland defending its interests from the pirate-den of Puntland?! Do you finally get it?

Originally posted by Libaax-Sankataabte: The title “Sheikh” may or may not be a misnomer, but the interesting question here is why XDA chose to come to Mogadishu. If XDA came to Mogadishu as part of a secret peace accord with the TFG, I will be the first to herald him as a champion of peace at a time of great turmoil and mistrust. But if the old man entered the city without any change of view towards the TFG, then his unfussy arrival in Mogadishu may very well be an open indication of the TFG’s apparent inability, once again, to control the capital. If anything, this is a harbinger of ominous things to come and perhaps the prolongation of the same septic practices we got so used to. We shall see what he is up to. I fear your second point will be the true one. H.D. Aweys has tremendous potential to destabilize the current TFG, AMISOM, and whatever little peace exists in Mogadishu. His tentacles stretch as far as Puntland and even further into Somaliland. While he doesn't have the ability to overthrow the governing entities up North, he does have significant capacity to destabilize them. This situation should be closely monitored by all Somali-watchers and is potentially more significant than the Donors Conference in Europe. What do you think?

Originally posted by juma-nne: So Djibouti is a friend of Somaliland while at the same time plays the central role for the unity government of Somalia.? Can someione clarify this for me? Aaah, what can poor little Somaliland do? A country cannot choose its neighbors. Tsk, tsk... On the other border we have Puntland, the premier hub for international piracy and human trafficking. Tsk, tsk... Ooh, poor Somaliland, if it was only between Botswana and Switzerland ....

Originally posted by juma-nne: M mitid. How abt this just read the last statement by Eng. Axmed xaashi. I believe that he is one of the most staunch pro-seccesation..... ..... Hmmmm... I see your point..... Well, first of all it's Mohamed Xaashi not Ahmed Xaashi. Secondly, I remember that during the last elections in 2008, McCain said Obama was a Socialist and would bring Soviet-style command economy to the American marketplace! It's called electioneering, my dear fellow. Try not to take it too seriously on either side of the candidate line-up. Like I said earlier, a little bit of knowledge is a dangerous thing...

The jig is up! Some people are finally beginning to wake up. Better late than never...

^^ Juma-nne, If you honestly believe that, you're not as astute as you intimate. At least, you're no longer peddling your dreams of Somaliland's imminent collapse I saw your teary moaning suggesting Silanyo should just retire and return to Burco since he decided to negotiate. What can I say... He loves his people and land like most Somaliland leaders.

^^ In case you miss it in the other post, I will also post the same reply here since it's pertinent to our discussion: -------------------- ------ Originally posted by juma-nne: markii hore puntland hates somaliland and vice versa. Hadeerna it hates Udub. Maybe When puntland gets to have political paries we would see somaliland Hating on one of them. But why Hate? Is it because udub sidii gofanaha ayaiy ugasoogo'oday hantidiii ummada? I had deam that Puntland too has political parties and the ruling party is named "UGUB" Now would you hate on UGUB yaa mitid? Juma-nne, First of all, thank you for openly confirming something that escapes some of the less discerning people on SOL. You forgot to mention one pertinent fact about the current leadership of Udub that might have some relevance to Puntland's feelings vis-a-vis Udub: It was the current leadership of Udub that put Puntland back in the box (if you know what I mean). Before that, Puntland was punching way above its weight... After that latest exercise by the current Udub leadership regarding Puntland, the manner in which Puntland was viewed by the international community as well as other Somali regional players changed. So while from a Somaliland perspective, Udub has serious issues just like the other two parties, it gets stellar marks from Somalilanders for the manner it resolved the territorial disputes on its borders. I strongly suspect that's a powerful factor in the 'Puntlandian' bias against Udub and its leadership.

Originally posted by AYOUB: quote:Originally posted by xiinfaniin: Gabbal is wrong. Clan has nothing to do with this. The Kismayo admin that was set up before came to expire. It was commissioned for six months. It was between three Islamic entities; Alshabab, Caanoole, and Kambooni groups. Now both Kambooni and Canoole groups are demanding a new admin be established. Alshabaab is agreeing in principle but is suggesting few modifications. This fight i have no clue how it started but the city was tense past few weeks. Gabal as always is good at injecting tribal politics where it does not belong Nice try. Horn is under-playing Caanooloe's influence while you and Duke are doing the opposite because... Ayoub, And I thought I was the only one on SOL who noticed the Xiin/Duke double-punch with Emperor arriving a late third

When the final agreement over the election modalities is agreed upon in Somaliland by all parties (Insha'Allah, soon), a lot of individuals on SOL will need 'extra-potent AntAcid medication' to treat the full-blown ulcer that will develop

Yes, Emperor, you have us all figured out

juma-nne, Praying for Yoom-al Qiyaama doesn't make it come one day closer. Watch and learn, Son! Watch and learn...

Jabhat al Islamiyya Al Muqawama Islamiya Ras Kamboni Mu'askar Anole All 'Tol' interests wearing Islamist garb Now as for, Hisbul Islam A quickly failed attempt to unite them in Afmadow. Am I too far off the mark, gentlemen?

Maybe the next time the Shabaab boys launch a raid they will get another 10% of the overall pot, hmmm?! Question : How does the civilian population of the area feel about the continuous skirmishes? Who are the civilians, and I don't mean the elite merchants? Have they been content with the current administrative practices compared to the Barre Hiraale era? The only thing that publicly came out regarding that was the stoning of the young Somali girl...

Actually several 'Islamist' groups took over different parts of Kismayo with the expulsion of Barre Hiraale. All of them are segregated from each other by each militia's clan-exclusivity. Not much has changed except the 'tol' militia men pray more regularly now.

Xiin, Just like I tried to explain to your 'shoodhi', Duke, yesterday, all talk is about how to buttress the security apparatus of the Sharif/Sharmaarke central government, not Puntland. Too many links have been established already between the ongoing piracy and Puntland leadership. It's like training/paying the Mafia to guard commercial businesses in a municipal zone...

Clarification from up North: The Caanoole group hails from Puntland traditionally. The old clannish competition for control of the Jubba Valley and its critical outlet to the sea, Kismayo, still continues. The same groups are wearing an Islamist shirt now (very in vogue, currently). If you need any further clarifications, just ask away

Stay tuned and you might actually learn something

Calm down, Duke! You're safe in North America unless some money was sent to you through Amal Express. Currently, most of the financial investigations in the West are concentrated in the UK. Good thing you moved from there in the nick of time

Boats seized off Somalia for illegal activities: Puntland official 19 April 2009 12:52 PM Agence France Presse English Copyright Agence France-Presse, 2009 All reproduction and presentation rights reserved. Somalia's breakaway state of Puntland claimed Sunday that three vessels reportedly captured by pirates were rather seized by local security forces for illegal offshore activities. "The reason they were seized is completely different than that of piracy," Sanag governor Mohamud Said Nur told AFP by telephone, referring to an Italian tugboat and two Egyptian fishing boats seized earlier this month. "We have confirmed the Italian boat is tugging two containers of toxic waste and they were planning to dump it in our waters, so we need justice for their wrongdoings," he said, adding no ransom had been demanded for its release. "The two Egyptian boats were also illegally fishing off our coasts and they must be brought to justice as well," he said. The Italian and Egyptian vessels were respectively captured in the Gulf of Aden and off the coast of another breakaway region, Somaliland. The Puntland governor's remarks came as NATO naval ships foiled yet another pirate attack, this time on a Norwegian tanker, after a dramatic overnight chase in the Gulf of Aden.

^^^ "Intermediate efforts would focus on assisting Puntland which is the epicentre of piracy and has a somewhat dysfunctional government " Even the articles you fellows post contradict the idea of this mythical Puntland. The gig is up - the world understands what's going on and who's behind it for easy shillings!

Xaaji, That type of sentiment is definitely not helpful and only serves to win new enemies for Somaliland. This is sad news - more Somali blood spilt over ancient clan animosities. Illaahay ha u sahlo!

Duke and kins obsession with Rayaale has to do with the Eastern Somaliland issue. Notice that it's no longer referred to as a disputed region by international actors and media. The lines are clearly marked in published maps in newspapers, whether on the Economist, Wash Post, The Guardian, NYTimes, BBC, etc. It's so easy to see what makes the tea kettle boil... But the more Duke writes about Somaliland, the more convinced Somalilanders on SOL are that the Somaliland leadership is at least doing somethings correct. The poor fellow is clearly not as sophisticated as some of his cousins in masking his intentions.

Originally posted by General Duke: ^^^Abdullahi Yusuf as you know resigned moved to Puntland oversaw the election of the new admin and went to Sanca for health reasons as a guest of the President of Yemen. Yes, Duke, that really 'developed' Yemeni health care system When all attempts to take on Somaliland leave your kin with their 'macawiis' around their ankles, attempt to create division within Somaliland. It worked in Mogadishu so why not give it a try in Somaliland, noo? No worries, we'll invite you for tea in Las Anod to soothe any hurt feelings.

A.Yusuf should have sought asylum in Somaliland like Adde Muse before him. The hotels are quite comfortable there and he wouldn't be required to learn a new language, unlike Yemen! Just a thought...

Egos brushing up against each other...