Sunday, May 26, 2013

Somaliland: Aspirations are of course, Statutory Laws



Somaliland - SL got the highest diplomatic boost of propelling it into sovereignty following Ethiopian PM's statement of support to our nation.

As we basked in pride given worldwide unprecedented Diaspora celebrations on the 18th of May, the Ethiopian sentiments show of brethrenship is the strongest signal yet from a foreign power.

The explicit words of "support to the hilt stand" by Ethiopian CEO for SL, politically speaking, has a wide ranging and far reaching implications for both within and without the region.

What was important about the news of military support to SL?

• It is an 'veiled' diplomatic acknowledgement of SL as an entity in itself

• It was made upon a week-day after a weekend that saw the eve of SL celebrations

• The statement came after Somalia president likened the SL aspirations to mere illusions calling upon Somalilanders to forget about it!

• It comes after Kenyan government revealed at a Nairobi Diaspora SL day celebrations over a couple of yours ago that they were at the forefront of advancing SL aspirations at the AU and international stage together with "others" they never mentioned.

• It comes after several UK repeated supportive words -which Somali associated media tend to by-pass!

• It is most important since "from the latest horse's mouth", the Somali-associated press CAN NOT by-pass, neglect or give the slightest black out.

What was, and is, incumbent upon us is to rise up to the occasion and hail the Ethiopians for their brave show of brethenship support which is indeed an enormous moral, material and, if anything, life support to SL.

Thanks your Excellency Desalegn, and thanks too, to your compatriots.

The truth of the matter is that our case is not a Somali case but a Somaliland issue. Our bone of contention lies with the legal basic human rights encompassed within the realism of self determination and sovereignty.

As for the Mogadishu government, it has been true to our prediction a fortnight ago in this column- read in The Horn Tribune Editorial dated 11th May 2013"Mixed Signals on Future SL/Somalia Talks", that there was a bleakness augured.

It would be hard to be morally bound to continue the talks given the latest open onslaught on our integrity.

After our editorial, there came in quick successions, the aviation rights issue, Hassan's offensive language, the blatant shameful act of storming a Berbera bound plane and confiscating and destroying the passports of Somalilanders, and last but not least, the continued speeches of "re-uniting at all costs" by top Mogadishu officials.

Even after the FM Dr. Omar's assurance to the Guurti yesterday on SL's determination to continuing the talks, our moral integrity would not be bounding, given that already articles agreed upon as tenets for further talks have been ir-redeemably infringed upon.

Perhaps the southerners have already agreed to disagree on fruitful conclusions of the Talks, since all pointers shows they are trying to abort them.

They may as well know that it is not incumbent upon SL in disagreeing to agreeing with them on SL's future!

Ours is surely irreversible, and if anything, already well specified in our constitutional statutory books.

This is why the Head of State reminded the world on 18th May that successive powers in Mogadishu tended to exude arrogance as concerns the wishes of Somalilanders way back since June "60.

The writer of the editorial Mr M.A.Egge is the editor of the Horn Tribune a weekly English newspaper published in Hargeisa by the state owned Dawan Media Group-DMG

He can be contacted via eggebodle@gmail.com or tht_editor@hotmail.com

UK, MI5 and Syria: Hypocrites, Somalia and Brutal Murder of Lee Rigby



woolwichBoutros Hussein and Lee Jay Walker
Modern Tokyo Times

In the United Kingdom it is clear that nobody is concerned about converts to Buddhism and Hinduism being involved in killing people in the name of God, Gods or the Buddha. Indeed, within the Islamic faith it is clear that the Alawites, Alevi, Ahmadiyya, Shia, and a plethora of other sects, are not involved in inciting religious hatred in the United Kingdom. The same also obviously applies to mainstream Sunni Muslim religious leaders. However, you have a problem within radical Sunni Islamic circles which deem all and sundry to be infidels. After all, in Syria several Sunni Muslim clerics have been killed by Sunni jihadists because they didn’t follow their draconian version of Islam.

Turning to the security agencies of the United Kingdom then it appears that too many are very naive and that some members are ignoring certain laws which are meant to protect British nationals. Michael Adebolajo, a religious fanatic, was held by the Kenyan police near the border with Somalia because he tried to join the al-Shabaab. Yet, instead of having a system which imprisons British nationals who go abroad to kill in the name of Islam; it appears that the United Kingdom welcomes them back with open arms by flaunting the 2006 Terrorism Act providing the circumstances fit. Not only this, but MI5 deems this to be a great opportunity to obtain a possible informer whereby they will pay tax payers money on a person who supports mass hatred.

Now, if you don’t understand the mindset of al-Shabaab this is all and well. However, clearly the security services of the United Kingdom and the political elites do. Therefore, despite the al-Shabaab in Somalia killing every convert to Christianity that they can find and destroying Sufi Islamic shrines; it appears to matter little. The al-Shabaab not only behead Muslim converts to Christianity while praising Allah but they also support stoning women to death and chopping hands off for minor crimes. This reality is being glossed over too much and the same applies to Islamist nations which have good relations with the British government.

For example, in Saudi Arabia not one single non-Muslim holy place is allowed. Apostates from Islam to Christianity or other non-Muslim faiths face the death penalty in this country. The same applies to other nations which implement Islamic Sharia law to the full. It appears absurd that in the modern world that you still have some nations which support killing non-Muslim men for the act of marrying a Muslim female. However, in several Islamist states the act of love between a non-Muslim male and Muslim female is deemed unethical according to Islamic Sharia law and punishable by death. Of course, in many majority Muslim nations this doesn’t apply because of cultural factors, different political systems and based on different thought patterns within the Islamic world. Despite this, it is clear that the British government is allowing extremist nations, organizations, Islamist charities and other Islamist groups to spread their hatred within the United Kingdom. This is detrimental to all British nationals irrespective of faith but clearly these “Islamist taps” are not being switched off.

It must be stated that even within the prison system of the United Kingdom that many moderate Muslims and non-Muslims have been converted to radical Sunni Islam inside the institutions of this country. If Islamist militancy can thrive so openly within universities and prison services then clearly something is amiss. Likewise, it is ironic that the Christian faith is thriving in Nigeria despite the threat of Islamist militancy in northern Nigeria; but in the United Kingdom the indigenous faith is in clear decline and this vacuum is being filled on the fringes by Islamists. Without a shadow of a doubt both individuals involved in the murder of the innocent British soldier would still be outside the clutches of Islamic militancy – if they (or their parents) had never entered the United Kingdom. If this isn’t a sad indictment of what is happening in Britain then what is?

It is also ironic that Prime Minister David Cameron, the Foreign Minister William Hague and one of the killers of the innocent British soldier Lee Rigby all share one common theme. They all support anti-Syrian government forces which are involved in many beheadings, terrorist acts, killing Alawites, persecuting Christians, killing Sunni Muslim clerics which support the government and other brutal acts of barbarity. Therefore, David Cameron and William Hague are focused on supporting the dark forces of terrorism and sectarianism at government level against the government of Syria. Meanwhile one of the Islamists involved in the brutal murder of Lee Rigby was canvassing on the streets of England to fight against the Syrian government.

Of course, the two Islamists involved in the sickening murder of Lee Rigby reside in a world which is far from reality. Likewise, the majority of the media coverage about Syria resides in a distorted world therefore this will have suited their warped minds. After all, in Syria it is abundantly clear that militant Sunni Islamists are beheading, persecuting and destroying the fabric of Syrian society. Despite this, the term “rebels” and other nice labels are spread around the media. At the same time, countless brutal massacres by the side which the British government supports in Syria are usually overlooked – or the articles manipulate darker angles – or provide anti-Syrian government coverage on the same page in order to dilute.

The two individuals involved in the brutal murder of Lee Rigby clearly have been brainwashed. After all, every day Muslims are killing Muslims in many nations and this currently applies to Afghanistan, Iraq, Nigeria, Pakistan, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and others. Ahmadiyya Muslims for example are persecuted in Indonesia and Pakistan by fellow Muslims but they are not persecuted by the British government. Likewise, many Shia are slaughtered in several nations by Sunni Islamist militants and currently Sufi shrines are threatened by Sunni Islamist militants in Libya, Mali and Somalia. Therefore, the two brainwashed Islamists clearly reside in cloud cuckoo land but this didn’t stop the security agencies in the UK from being interested in employing one of the fanatics.

In Syria before outside nations supported sectarianism, terrorism and sedition against the government and people of this nation; the “light of Islam” was felt warmly in this country. This applies to the various different Christian sects which have a plethora of churches and institutions throughout this land. Likewise, in Lebanon and Syria you will find many Armenians because their ancestors fled the brutality of the 1915 genocide committed by the Turks. Many Armenians found new homes within mainly Muslim Syria and multi-confessional Lebanon. In more recent times, vast numbers of Christians have fled Iraq because of terrorism and once more Jordan and Syria opened their doors based on humanity. However, today you have al-Qaeda, Islamist sectarians, America, France, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Turkey and the United Kingdom all on the same side against secular Syria. Therefore, the “light of Levant Islam” is now being threatened by the meddling of outside nations. This reality means that the UK and other governments are enabling Islamists to spread their dangerous tentacles. At the same time, many Islamists have left the United Kingdom in order to kill mainstream Muslims and Christians in Syria.

The madness of the political elites is even confirmed by the Home Secretary. In the Daily Telegraph it reports that “Prevent was set up under the Labour government in 2005 after the London bombings of July 7. After the last general election, Theresa May, the Home Secretary, commissioned a review because she regarded it as highly flawed, and was critical of the higher education sector’s “complacency” in dealing with the Islamists on campus. She later admitted that Prevent had handed taxpayers’ money to hard-line Muslim groups that promote extremist views.”


“One senior counter-terrorism source said: “Would a university allow someone to speak on campus if they were advocating the best way to be a paedophile or an armed robber? No, they would not. But they allow speakers who advocate terrorism.”


Sadly, it appears that in the United Kingdom that anything is possible because elites are in denial mode. Therefore, is anyone surprised that MI5 and successive British governments have got it wrong? The same can be said about supporting various terrorist groups in Syria which have even trained children to behead captured Syrian soldiers. Given this reality, the barbarity of what happened to Lee Rigby is a common feature of what is happening to anyone deemed to be pro-Syrian government in Syria. It is time to switch the “Islamist terrorist clock off” wherever it is because this brutal mindset hates all and sundry – irrespective if they butcher Muslims, Christians and people of other faiths and no faith.



Black Youth, terrorism and the moral blindness

Black Youth, terrorism and the moral blindness.

The brutal killing of the young British solider Lee Rigby on a British High Street in Woolwich South London by religious fanatics was deeply shocking. The fact that such a savage and grisly attack can take place on a busy British street in broad daylight has left the nation numb with shock and bewilderment.

This was a 21st century murder, broadcast almost live in real time and instantly transmitted across the world. The images we’ve seen on the front page of our newspapers, and on our television screens were horrific and bloody.

The question haunting everyone now is how can seemingly ordinary couple of black British guys from South East London end up committing such an act?

The personal tragedy for the murdered young man and his family seems almost to have been overshadowed by the complete dominance in the print media of the murderers whose pictures were plastered on every front page. I refuse to name them here in a small act of personal solidarity with the family.
One can only imagine the pain and grief his immediately family must be going through. They are now condemned to be forever reminded of the graphic nature of his death suffering a living hell with a memory that will be forever etched into their minds.

Watching the news over the last couple of days, I was struck by a number of issues that I think are important. The overwhelming majority of the news has focused on analysing the story from the perspective of terrorism and utilising the usual array of largely white and Asian Muslim experts and representatives.
Given the men themselves are black and of Nigerian origin this struck me as slightly odd. The dominant news narrative seems to almost wish they had been Asian and in that desire has simply labeled them ‘Muslim’ fitting them in to a convenient and stereotypical category that reflects and allows for simplistic and naive commentary.

Of course what is missing from the debate and in some sense, is the huge elephant in the room, is the fact that these young men are African, they are black British men and largely unknown to many they are part of the largest single ethnic minority group in London according to the 2011 census. That is an important aspect of this story, and I will tell why I think so.

The fact is that the real lived experience of British black communities suffering the damaging effects of societal racism is a narrative that is largely missing from the mainstream British news agenda and completely absent from the Government’s agenda. I am not for one moment seeking to suggest, in any way, shape or form, that these grotesque murderous act are justified. I am, however, suggesting that a minority of young black British people, be they of African or Caribbean descent, many of whom suffer deep economic exclusion, deep political marginalisation and acute social demonisation from wider society, can be particularly susceptible to both violent criminality and sometimes, radical conversion by religious fanatics.

Take a step back and think about it, why would British born black men brought up in a Christian family here in England be seduced into such fanatical extremism? The conversion rate of young people of African and Caribbean descendent to Islam has been spectacular over the last 10 years.

In 2004, I was interviewed by the London Evening Standard on this issue, I highlighted the fact that religious fanatics, claiming to be Muslims were targeting disaffected black youth in Lambeth to their cause. Their experience of racism and injustice perceived by black boys, their sense of powerlessness makes some of them, particularly vulnerable to such perversion.

But here it’s important to note, and I will return to this point later, that a minority of British black boys are first seduced into the violently criminality of gangs as a consequence of family dysfunctionally, made acute by profound economic exclusion and their constant criminalisation as a result of a resurgent institutional racism, infecting the operational focus day to day policing as a result of the continued existence of a culture of racial profiling.

The local gang in Lambeth were engaged in robbing local drug dealers in the name of Allah, (Peace Be Upon Him), and giving the proceeds to Mosques and their mentors. They would force local drug dealers to convert to Islam and renounce Christianity or face a merciless beating or death. Their modus operandi was total and extreme violence and that culminated with the murder of Adrian Marriot in 2004 who was shot five times in the head for failing to convert and he was but one example.

This gang was terrifying and brutal and the fear that they spread In Brixton was palpable. Streets would empty of young people at the merest suggestion that the gang were in the neighbourhood. These guys were frugal and Spartan, there was no ostentatious ‘ghetto bling’ lifestyle. They were disciplined, they slept on a single mattress, in empty unfurnished rooms with high calibre weapons and a Koran. They were forensically aware and under arrest, they never gave any information.

I had, at the time raised my concerns with local MPs but as usual when confronted with something that is outside their understanding, they chose to ignore me. It’s a condition many black people face is raising issue of concern only to be ignored and proved right later on In Britain, all black claims of racism, much like essential truth’s all start their lives as blasphemies. I was aware that young black boys in Lambeth were being taught a perverted version of Islam that claimed that any crime against a non-Muslim was permissible, and that they should engage in a war against criminal drug dealers using the profits to support the struggles against British and American forces in Iraq and Afghanistan.

I was dismissed as a fantasist, but I knew these young men were being trained by someone who had much more knowledge than the average teenage wannabe gangster. Far too late the Police woke up to the reality of this insidious threat and arrest were made and the gang eventually was broke up and jailed.
However, the problem of radical conversion did not disappear. The general rate of conversion of black young people in jail continues to be a cause for concern.

There is nothing to fear from genuine Muslim converts who are outstanding in the extent to which they serve as role models for others. However, there are others who are sometimes come from dysfunctional families, who suffer deep alienation and psychological issues that are susceptible and vulnerable to seduction of extremism.

We are all now sadly aware, of the so called ‘Shoe Bomber’ Richard Reid, the involvement of Germaine Lyndsey in the terrible atrocities of London’s 7/7 bombing of London and the composition of the 21/7 failed bomb attacks again including black African youth.

Young black men excluded by racism within education and from the labour market, unable to get jobs, who can’t afford to go to college or university, are harassed by the police force that brutalises and criminalises black men, and who face the grave injustice of a criminal-justice system that dishes out disproportionately heavy sentences to black men.

All this creates a pool of angry young men that religious extremists are able easily target. The injustices they face are explained and made rationale through the lens of religious bigotry.
Disaffected, alienated, unemployed, rejected and demonised by society results in some of our black boys, who are particularly vulnerable being seduced into the cause of extremism. Well documented acts of atrocities in Afghanistan and Iraq at the hands of the Americans and British only add to their feeling of injustice.

And even closer to home the reality8 of 56% black youth unemployment rate as of January 2010, (comparable with youth unemployment in Greece, I dread to think what the figure is today), deep racism in the recruitment practices of the private sector, the profound institutional racism of the criminal-justice system, all provide the perfect petri dish for the fermentation of rage and anger.

The Reach independent report to Government on raising the aspirations and attainment of Black boys and young Black men and published in 2007 estimated that tackling under-achievement among black boys and young men could benefit the economy by £24 billion over the next 50 years. The report accepted that the cost to the country of continuing to allow black boy remain effectively marginalised on the fringes of society would be enormous. Since that report was published that alienation has increased whilst the important recommendations have been left to wither on the vine.

Racism and the race of these two young black men, who committed this terrible murder in Woolwich, is the elephant in the room that most people don’t want to talk about because it fails to fit the convenient well-worn anti-Muslim, terrorist narrative. It’s right we talk about the preachers of hate, but we rarely discuss in any meaningful way the socio-economic and race inequality environment in which these preachers find fertile ground.

When you leave people to rot on the margins of society, they become easy prey for those seeking to exploit their anger and vulnerability by terrorists or criminals. I have in the past, been unfortunate in correctly predicting the August riots of 2011 on the back of increasing numbers of Black male deaths in police custody.

I could sense the tension in my community, but my concerns were dismissed and largely ignored. Well here is a big red flag warning, unless we begin to tackle the alienation that many black youth face we could more conversions to extremism, and sadly with similar outcomes to what occurred in Woolwich.
Alienation and racism are big enough problems in themselves but overlay this with the double standards of section of the British press and politicians that largely ignore the on-going scandal of black youth violence and murder.

Our communities endure a youth murder rate that is unacceptable. Intuitively, instinctively British black communities know and understand that if the victims of killings were white middle class youth, there would be a national outcry.

Society remains largely silent in the face of such carnage but erupts in outrage when a white solider gets killed. Horrific, and symbolic as the killing of this young soldier was, there were similarities in its barbarity of the recent murder of Daniel Graham, who was chased by a gang and stabbed multiple times on a London bus or that of Andrew Jaipual of Islington stabbed between 20-40 times? Both in broad daylight.
The reality is that the number of black young people in the UK who have been brutally murdered over the period of the last 13 years exceeds the number of British soldiers killed in Iraq and Afghanistan during the same period. What many in Black communities feel is that we are often facing an internal war generated by long term poverty, alienation and unemployment.

As the nation begins to reflect on the causes of the terrible events this week, the racism and rabid Islamaphobia of the English Defence League will feature large. And whilst the EDL and the BNP openly espouse their bigoted views without true leadership from mainstream political parties and beyond, many Britons will be silently sign up to at least a watered-down version. Such effects could take us back to the 1970s.

If as a society we are to tackle some of the root causes of violent extremism, and criminality, we will need to tackle both our moral duplicity home and abroad, but also begin offer real opportunity and hope to many more of our young men and women, Black and white.

Lee Jasper

Diplomatic dilemma as Kenya mulls over Somalia exit strategy











By PAUL WAFULA

Kenya's exit strategy from Somalia has hit a major diplomatic wall after Mogadishu developed hostility towards the new leadership of a newly formed autonomous region in southern Somalia.

The Standard on Sunday has also learnt the reluctance by Somalia's federal government under President  Hassan Sheikh Mohamud to warm up to Sheikh Ahmed Madobe’s leadership at Kismayu has created tension between Mogadishu and Nairobi.

This development has complicated Kenya's plan to exit the war torn-country in what jeopardises an operation that has already gobbled up more than Sh18 billion and lost several lives.

Buffer zone

It is understood that Kenya is counting on the new administration at Kismayu to take charge of the region and form a buffer zone before its troops, alongside the  African Union (AU) forces, fade out quietly.

Multiple sources interviewed in Kismayu among them the Kenya Defence Forces, the new President of Somalia's newest region and locals reckon it will now take much longer than expected to pull  KDF out of Somalia. Kenya has been fighting alongside Somali forces since October 2011 in an operation dubbed Linda Nchi, and it was expected to have left the nation after the war against the militant group is completed. People familiar with the operation said Kenya does not want to follow the footsteps of US and Ethiopia who were forced to exit without finding a long-lasting solution.

US in 1992 retreated without success while Ethiopia was forced to pull out in 2009 after three years of heavy casualties.

â€Å“Just getting rid of the  Al-Shabaab would have been simple, but the new challenges like stabilising Jubaland, handing over the region to a new leadership have made it impossible to tell when we are ever going to leave Somalia,” a captain in charge of one of the troops in Somalia told The Standard on Sunday in an interview at Kismayu. â€Å“We have also been delayed by the conferences that have seen the election of new leaders. Details are still sketchy but we are working with a tentative plan of moving to capture the remaining towns, especially in the Gedo region. The truth is we are not leaving this place any time in the near future if events on the ground remain this way,” the captain not authorised to speak to the media said.Â

But it is Mogadishu's refusal to participate in the political process, which is now at the final stages in Kismayu that is proving to be the greatest headache for President Madobe's leadership.

Madobe factor


Sheikh Islam, popularly known as Sheikh Ahmed Madobe, was elected through a process that cost Sh330 million ($3.9million) as the president of the Jubaland State of Somalia. Jubaland comprises of three regions-- Lower Juba, Middle Juba and Gedo and is located towards the south of Somalia. Madobe was elected by a conference 500 elders and local leaders.

After capturing the port city of Kismayu, seen as a major step in the fight against Kismayu, Kenyan troops, which are part of an African force in the country were expected to start an exit plan, and the success of president Madobe is seen as a critical part of this plan. Madobe, however, did not have a timeframe when he thinks his government will be able to run without external military support.

"I see a day when the AMISOM will leave in peace after liberating the whole of Jubaland, but I cannot say when exactly that will be. The timeframe will depend on the progress," he added.

Madobe, was the leader of the Ras Kamboni Brigade a paramilitary group in Kismayu.

General Abdullahi Sheikh Ismail Fartag from Gedi region was elected his Vice President.

President Madobe said Mogadishu has remained on the fence, despite several attempts by the team midwifing the transition process at the South to have them take a lead role in the process.

Eventual elections

Mogadishu argues that the process that led to the election of Madobe was unconstitutional. It is also understood that Mogadishu feels that it was left out of the process. The federal government also says that the process was dominated by one clan and that it would never assist in the defeat of  Al-Shabaab. It is also understood that Somalia's federal government is opposed to the new administration at Kismayu on grounds that it was formed too early.

"Our allegiance is to the federal government of Somalia and all we are asking is to be treated the same way as other states in Somalia," President Madobe said.

The transition committee has dismissed Mogadishu's stand on grounds that the process was people driven and Mogadishu had been invited severally to be part of the process.

"This process has taken us four years and it cannot be said to be rushed. We do not understand the hostility from federal government. People of Jubaland have resolved to pursue their intentions however we remain loyal to the federal government and have no intension whatsoever to secede," Mr Abdigani Jama, the chair of the technical committee for the Jubaland Conference said.

Jama also maintained that the process was in line with Somalia's constitution.

"None of this process is unconstitutional. We called the central government to take up the chairmanship position to lead the process, but it has not taken it up. We have also said that we owe our allegiance to the federal government under the leadership of President Hassan Mohamud," Mr Jama told The Standard on Sunday in an interview in Kismayu.

The reluctance by Mogadishu to recognise the new leadership at Kismayu is threatening to widen the rift and mistrust between the federal government and Madobe's local government.

 It has also emerged that Mogadishu could be dishing out money to elders in Kismayu, with a view to weaken the support that Madobe has on the ground.

"We have seen the delegation from Mogadishu here in Kismayu at a local hotel call out individuals aside. Talking to them, we have established that some are being given some money. People are very poor here and some money can easily turn one clan against the other," the source said.

Madobe maintains that his government will proceed with the remaining bit of stabilising Somalia under the realisation that the troops in the country will not be staying in Somalia forever.

"The delegates are currently in the process of electing 65 members of parliament who will be drawn from all the clans here in Jubaland. We will then appoint a cabinet to start work. Our first assignment is to liberate the remaining area of Jubaland from the Al-shabaab," President Madobe said. "We also want to be able to put in place the mechanism that will provide for the realization of one man one vote, deal with security, education, reconciliation and rehabilitation issues," Mr Madobe said.

But it is not just the central government that is opposed to the new administration in Kismayu.

Warlord's decree

Last week, a warlord in Jubaland declared himself 'president' of the region, shortly after the election of Madobe to the post.

Mr Barre Hirale, a former Somali defence minister and warlord who comes from a rival clan, declared himself as president at separate conference. However, Mr Madobe dismissed this development arguing that everyone was aware of the process that saw him elected as president and any other person is an imposter.

However, the move by Somalia̢۪s other state, Puntland, to congratulate the new leadership at Kismayu has been seen as a major boost to president Madobe's reign.

"Puntland congratulates the people of Jubaland State and the new President-elect on organising a community-led consultative conference, adopting a new State Charter, and electing a new President today," a statement from Office of the President of Puntland said Wednesday.

Puntland said the formation of Jubaland State was fully in accordance with the Provisional Federal Constitution (PFC) of Somalia.

Julian Assange wanted $1m for interview with We Steal Secrets documentarian Alex Gibney

Transparency advocate Julian Assange wanted $1 million for an interview or said he would speak in return for information relayed to him from other interview subjects. Source: AP
JULIAN Assange apparently asked a documentary-maker for $1 million to do an interview or for information from other interview subjects.

Alex Gibney, whose film We Steal Secrets: The Story of WikiLeaks has just been released in the US, told The Nation about the transparency advocate's bizarre requests.

"I tried over the course of a year and a half to get the interview. He’d already been interviewed by practically everyone on the planet. Finally we had a six hour meeting. He told me that the market rate for an interview was a million dollars. I told him I don’t pay for interviews," Gibney said.

"He said “That’s too bad, in that case you might do something else for me.” He wanted me to spy on our other interview subjects - which I found a rather odd request from someone concerned about source protection. So I never did get the interview with Julian Assange."

WikiLeaks has released an annotated version of a leaked transcript of the documentary on the anti-secrecy group.

WikiLeaks said it had not participated in the making of the documentary, which focuses on the website's controversial founder Assange and its chief informant Bradley Manning.

Private Manning, a US Army intelligence analyst who admitted to leaking hundreds of thousands of secret military logs and confidential embassy cables to WikiLeaks, faces possible life imprisonment in a military trial to resume June 3.

Assange, the Australian hacker who founded the site, has been holed up in Ecuador's London embassy for nearly a year, seeking to avoid extradition to Sweden, where he is wanted for questioning in a sexual assault case.

WikiLeaks said late on Thursday that the film "portrays Manning's alleged acts as a failure of character rather than a triumph of conscience" and said the film's portrayal of his relationship with Assange was "grossly irresponsible."

The portrayal "suggests - erroneously and when evidence is to the contrary - that Assange may be guilty of conspiring with Bradley Manning to commit espionage or similar offences."

The WikiLeaks statement added that "neither Julian Assange nor anyone associated with WikiLeaks over the past two-and-a-half years agreed to participate in the film."

It then posted what appeared to be a full transcript of the documentary with copious notes alleging factual errors and misrepresentations.

In a recent interview with CBS news, the American director Gibney said the film is concerned with "both the abuse of power and hubris on the part of the US government, but certainly also on the part of Julian Assange."

"At his moment of greatest fame, (Assange) ends up becoming all too much like the enemies he sought to take out or expose," Gibney said.

Gibney told CBS he engaged in "endless negotiations" with Assange but that his requests to interview the WikiLeaks founder were ultimately denied.

He was also unable to interview Manning, who has been in military detention since his arrest in 2010.

In a separate interview with NPR aired on Friday, Gibney said Assange and Pte Manning, didn't necessarily change how governments operate, but, "at a moment in time when governments are keeping far too many secrets," they helped reveal the people pulling the "levers" behind the scenes.

"We see that a lot of those 'levers' are doing pretty terrible things."

The United States has accused WikiLeaks of endangering national security by leaking the documents, which included reports of torture and civilian casualties in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The diplomatic cables include candid comments by world leaders and confidential assessments by US diplomats that in many cases proved embarrassing to the State Department and other governments.

Pte Manning admitted in February to leaking the war logs and diplomatic cables to WikiLeaks and said he would plead guilty to 10 of the less serious charges against him, which could see him sentenced to 20 years in military custody.

The 25-year-old, who was working as a US Army intelligence analyst when he was arrested in Iraq in 2010, has denied the more serious charge of "aiding the enemy," which could carry a life sentence.

Pte Manning is set to go before a full court martial on June 3, with the trial expected to last 12 weeks.

MUCJISO: CARUURTA KU DHALATA CAASIMADA SOMALILAND MAALMIHII U DANBEEYEY OO LOOGU MAGACDARO MAGACYADA RAIISAL WASAARAHA ETHIOPIA & OORIDIISA !!!

Ethiopia's First Lady Roman Tesfaye
Tan iyo markii Raiisal Wasaaraha Ethiopia H. E. Hailemariam Desalegn ahna Gudoomiyaha Midowga Afrika uu khudbad uu u jeedinayay Baarlamaanka dalkiisa 18 May 2013, oo ku beegnayd 22 guuradii ka soo wareegtay la soo noqoshada Madaxbanaanida Somaliland, khudbadaasi oo Raiisal Wasaare Hailemariam Desalegn oo uu si cad u sheegay in dalka Ethiopia taageero dhaqaale, mid siyaasadeed iyo mid difaacba uu siinayo walaalahada dalka Somaliland, Isla markaasina ay Ciidamada Ethiopia ay diyaar u yihiin in ay ka barbar dagaalamaan kuwa Somaliland haddii dalka Somaliland halisi ay kaga timaado dhinaca Somalia ama ay halis galiyaan ururka argagixisada ah ee Alshaab. 

Mucjisada khudbadan taariikhiga ah kadib maxaa cusub ee ku soo kordhay Somaliland?
seddexdii maalmood ee ugu dambeeyay in ka badan 30 caruur ah oo ku dhashay magaalooyinka waawayn ee Somaliland ayaa loogu magac daray magaca Raiisal Wasaaraha Ethiopia Hailemariam iyo kan aabihii Desalegn waa wiilasha e, halka hablahana loogu wanqalay Roman oo ah magaca Marwada Koowaad ee dalka Ethiopia ahan oorida Raiisal Wasaaraha Ethiopia Hailemariam Desalegn, waalidiin kale ayaa iyagu ugu magac daray hablo u dhashay magaca caasimada Itoobiya ee Adis iyo magaca dalkaasi ee Itoobiya. 
Hailemariam Desalegn Ethiopian Prime Minister
Dhacdooyinkan layaabka ahi maaha kuwii ugu horeeyay ee Somaliland lagu arko balse tan iyo sanadkii 1993, socotada ka soo degta gagida diyaaradaha ee caasimada Somaliland waxa markiiba dhagahoodu maqlaan heeso debecsan oo ah kuwa ay qaadaan fanaaniin u dhashay Ethiopia, halka guri kasta oo somaliland ku yaalana dhegaysiga heesaha Ethiopianku noqdeen kuwo maalin kasta laga dhegaysto, Waxa kale oo Afka Axmaarigu ka mid yahay luuqadaha rasmiga ah ee ay ku hadasho Idaacada Radio Hargeisa, oo ku hadashada Afka Xukuumada Somaliland. 

Si kastaba ha ahaatee, Arimahan ayaa  ah kuwo si cad uga marag kacaya qotada burburka laxaadka leh ee haleelay Midnimadii dhex maray labadii mustacmaradood ee Somaliland iyo Somalia 1 July 1960kii iyo Calankii Buluuga ahaa ee lahaa Xidigta Shanta Gees leh oo dhexda uga taalay. 
Maahmaah ama Halku dhig caan ahaa  
HADDII AWAR KALA GUURTO LA ARKEE MAR KALEETO IN AY OOD KU KULMAANE,
HADDII UUR KALA GUURO SOW AMUUR CULUS MAAHA!!!!

Saturday, May 25, 2013

MUCJISO: CARUURTA KU DHALATA CAASIMADA SOMALILAND 3 MAALMOOD EE U DANBEEYEY OO LOOGU MAGACDARO RAIISAL WASAARAHA ETHIOPIA

Tan iyo markii Raiisal Wasaaraha Ethiopia H. E. Hailemariam Desalegn ahna Gudoomiyaha Midowga Afrika uu khudbad uu u jeedinayay Baarlamaanka dalkiisa 18 May 2013, oo ku beegnayd 22 guuradii ka soo wareegtay la soo noqoshada Madaxbanaanida Somaliland, khudbadaasi oo Raiisal Wasaare Hailemariam Desalegn oo uu si cad u sheegay in dalka Ethiopia taageero dhaqaale, mid siyaasadeed iyo mid difaacba uu siinayo walaalaha Somaliland, Isla markaasina ay Ciidamada Ethiopia ay diyaar u yihiin in ay ka barbar dagaalamaan kuwa Somaliland haddii dalka Somaliland halisi ay kaga timaado dhinaca Somalia ama ay halis galiyaan ururka argagixisada ah ee Alshaab. 

Mucjisada khudbadan taariikhiga ah kadib maxaa cusub ee ku soo kordhay Somaliland?
seddexdii maalmood ee ugu dambeeyay in ka badan 30 caruur ah oo ku dhashay magaalooyinka waawayn ee Somaliland ayaa loogu magac daray magaca Raiisal Wasaaraha Ethiopia Hailemariam iyo kan aabihii Desalegn waa wiilasha e, halka hablahana loogu wanqalay Roman oo ah magaca Marwada Koowaad ee dalka Ethiopia ahan oorida Raiisal Wasaaraha Ethiopia Hailemariam Desalegn, waalidiin kale ayaa iyagu ugu magac daray hablo u dhashay caasimada Itoobiya ee Adis iyo magaca dalkaasi ee Itoobiya. 
Ethiopia's First Lady Roman Tesfaye
Dhacdooyinkan layaabka ahi maaha kuwii ugu horeeyay ee Somaliland lagu arko balse tan iyo sanadkii 1993, socotada ka soo degta gagida diyaaradaha ee caasimada Somaliland waxa markiiba dhagahoodu maqlaan heeso debecsan oo ah kuwa ay qaadaan fanaaniin u dhashay Ethiopia, halka guri kasta oo somaliland ku yaalana dhegaysiga heesaha Ethiopianku noqdeen kuwo maalin kasta laga dhegaysto, Waxa kale oo Afka Axmaarigu ka mid yahay luuqadaha rasmiga ah ee ay ku hadasho Idaacada Radio Hargeisa, oo ku hadashada Afka Xukuumada Somaliland. 

Si kastaba ha ahaatee, Arimahan ayaa  ah kuwo si cad uga marag kacaya qotada burburka laxaadka leh ee haleelay Midnimadii dhex maray labadii mustacmaradood ee Somaliland iyo Somalia 1 July 1960kii iyo Calankii Buluuga ahaa ee lahaa Xidigta Shanta Gees leh oo dhexda uga taalay. 

Maahmaah ama Halku dhig caan ahaa  
HADDII AWAR KALA GUURTO LA ARKEE MAR KALEETO IN AY OOD KU KULMAANE,
HADDII UUR KALA GUURO SOW AMUUR CULUS MAAHA!!!!




In prison, Somalia's pirates become a source of government wrangling


At least 34 convicted pirates are locked away in the remote city of Hargeisa, capital of the self-declared nation of Somaliland, where the United Nations is trying to teach them useful trades: tailoring, welding, brick-making, computer skills and gardening. In their leisure time, the pirates play basketball in the dusty prison yard.

Somalia’s pirates were once the scourge of the seas, holding more than 1,200 hostages in 2011 and inflicting $18-billion in damage to the world economy. But over the past year, a massive European-led naval operation, combined with armed guards on cargo ships, has foiled almost every hijacking attempt by Somali pirates.

Today the number of pirate attacks is down sharply – but the dilemma now is what to do with the convicted pirates, who have become a diplomatic bargaining chip and a source of government wrangling.
The pirate prisoners – who continue to deny their guilt, insisting they were “just fishing” when they were captured near the Seychelles – agreed to be transferred to Hargeisa’s prison because it has Somali guards and a familiar language and culture. But now they say the prison conditions are much worse than in the Seychelles.

Somaliland prison officials complain bitterly about a lack of financial support from the UN Office of Drugs and Crime (UNODC), which had promised to help provide food, medicine and other basic support for the convicted pirates. The budget shortfall is as much as $72,000 annually, the prison officials say.
Two of the pirates, 25-year-old Mawlid Ahmed Abtidon and 29-year-old Abdi Fatah Ahmed Abdullah, lounge casually in the office of the prison commander as they field questions from The Globe and Mail. They complain about the shortage of prison food and the absence of promised phone calls to their families in Mogadishu, although both appeared well-fed and healthy. They also say that they were never allowed to appeal their trial verdicts.

“Life in this prison is not good,” Mr. Abtidon said. “We are requesting you to convey the message that our rights were neglected.”

Most of the 34 pirates here, who are serving prison terms of up to 25 years, were previously held in the Seychelles, close to where they were captured in 2009 and 2010. Several other pirates are being held in other Somaliland prisons. The breakaway region in northern Somalia agreed to accept the pirates as a gesture of international co-operation – and unofficially in hopes of winning diplomatic recognition for its independence.

Although it is an oasis of peace and democracy in the Horn of Africa, the enclave of Somaliland has failed to gain any international diplomatic recognition so far. To bolster its cause, Somaliland has agreed to accept up to 60 pirate prisoners – a valuable offer to the UN, since most countries are unwilling to accept the pirates, and the prisons in southern and central Somalia are not considered secure enough to hold the pirates safely.
Two agencies of the United Nations spent a reported $1.5-million to complete the construction of the Hargeisa prison in 2011 so that it could house the pirates. But now the UN is accused of breaking its promises to support the pirates.

“When I hear the word ‘UNODC,’ it makes me angry,” said Abdullahi Dahir, a senior official in Somaliland’s prisons agency. “The UNODC is failing to provide basic needs for those who were transferred from the Seychelles and those who were captured here.”

Current spending by the Somaliland government is only $1.20 a day for food and medicine for each prisoner, the UN acknowledges, but it insists it is working on a plan to provide more of these supplies to the prison. “The process is under way to deliver these items in the near future,” one UN official said in an e-mail.
He said the UNODC is encountering difficulty in the “delivery and storage” of sheep, beans and oil to supplement the prison food.

The UN also acknowledges that most of the pirates have not been allowed any phone calls to their families, although it blames the Somaliland government for this decision.

The pirates are among 409 inmates at the Hargeisa prison. The prison commander refused to allow photos of the conditions in the cells, but he allowed a brief visit, showing that the cells are crowded, although each prisoner has a bunk bed.

While officials squabble over their food and medicine, the pirates say they should be transferred to a prison in Mogadishu, close to their families. They say they haven’t talked to their families since they were transferred to Somaliland.

In the meantime, the pirates are kept busy with the UN’s vocational job programs at the prison. They weld chairs for an orphanage. They make bricks for the construction of a government ministry. And they build bunk beds for the next group of arriving pirates from the Seychelles.