Somaliland utrikesministern har diplater i AU mötte i Ethiopien

Afrikansk unionen hade sin mötte huvudstade Addis Abeba i Ethiopien, fär samladesa mer än 50 stats och regerimsgchefer för att diskutera många svåra frågor, på plats fanns också, diplamater från  en rad olika länder, däribland  USA, EU och China. FN, chefen, Banki Moon var där.  En som var där är Somalilands utrikesminisrer MAbdulahi Mohamed Dualle. Det här var bra tillfälle för Somaliland att visa sig, få uppmarksammhet, träffa och samtala en en rad topp diplamater.

 Amb. Johne Carson oo ah Assistant Secretary of State

 här skakar Somalilands utriesministern med några afrikanska diplamater

Somaliland1991

 

Idag är det exast ett år sedan presidnet Obama svor eden i USA

Polisen Byn i Wajale sköt två personer igår

Somaliland. Wajale. Polisen iden byn har öppnat eld mot två personer som färdades en bil natten mot tisdagg. Det var en man och hans husru, vid namn, Yacqub Muhumed Hassan och hustrun, Rahma Mahamed Ismail. De dödades omdelbart. kropparna hämtades till Hagryeas sjukhus. När jag ringde igår angående om denna händelse, sa min källa att man grepp den skyldiga, alltså polisen och väntan på snabbt åtal, anhöriga till de två döda kräver att man verksätller dom eller avrätta och han ska begravas samtidigt som de döda. En fenomen som blev valigt de senaste åren i Somaliland, om någogfon dödar någon, då ska den som är skyldiga gripas, förhöras, och sdan avrätta honom och begrava samtidigr som ofren som dog.  Jag har många gåger tidigare kritiserat hårt de Somaliland polis, att sjuta obevämnad person till döds är mycket allvar. Jag tycker de sykldiga ska inte  gå  undan lagen utan gripas, förhöras och döma, ställa inför rätta. MänniskornaI byn Wajale,   gick ut på gatorna och började   demonstrera, demomstranterna samlades utanfös byns polis kontor.

se bilderna här

En av världens kände artis är besök i Somaliland

K´nan en av de unga lovande artis är just på besök i Somaliland, nämligen Kán som ahn heter. Jag såg honom för ett halv år sdan på Aljazeera english, där ahn intervjuades av den kände jounalisten Riz Khan. Både FIFA och Coca Cola har valt att att han ska sjunga när fotboll VM invigs i Syd Afrika i sommar

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Här kommer en artikel om honom, läs den!

World Cup rapper K’Naan defends Somali pirates

Song by controversial Somali-born hip-hop artist picked as anthem of 2010 finals in South Africa

 David Smith in Johannesburg

• The Observer, Sunday 6 December 2009
• Article history

FIFA, football’s world governing body, loves to present the sport as a means of bridging cultural divides. Even so, there are bound to be raised eyebrows at the news that the voice of next year’s football World Cup belongs to a Muslim rapper from Somalia who believes that its notorious pirates are just misunderstood.

His name is K’Naan and the song, ”Wavin’ Flag”, will be the anthem of the 2010 finals in South Africa. With lyrics such as ”See the champions take the field now/ Unify us, make us feel proud”, the track will be played in 150 countries, feature in TV and web adverts and be conspicuous at every match during the showpiece event.

Past football numbers have included Ricky Martin’s ”La Copa De La Vida” at the 1998 World Cup in France and Nelly Furtado’s ”Força” at Euro 2004. Perhaps the best known remains tenor Luciano Pavarotti’s rendition of ”Nessun Dorma” for the BBC’s coverage of the Italia 90 World Cup.

But Canada-based K’Naan, born Kanaan Warsame, has some unconventional political views that Coca-Cola, an official 2010 sponsor that chose him for its global marketing campaign, may be reluctant to promote. He has courted controversy by speaking out in defence of Somali pirates, whose recent activities have included the kidnapping of British couple Paul and Rachel Chandler and the seizure of the US-bound supertanker Maran Centaurus. One of his lyrics asks: ”So what do you know about the pirates terrorise the ocean/to never know a simple day without a big commotion.”

The child refugee turned rapper argues that the pirates have widespread sympathy in his war-torn country because they represent a backlash against western companies illegally fishing and dumping toxic waste in the Indian Ocean.

”A lot of people don’t like me for saying this but I’m in support of the pirates,” K’Naan, 31, said in a radio interview earlier this year. ”Massive western companies would come to Somalia and dump nuclear toxic waste containers on the shore because there was no government controlling the shorelines. So these pirates initially went into the ocean to make them pay for that sort of thing. So they just take everything for ransom. That actually helped us clear our environment.”

K’Naan has expressed similar opinions elsewhere. He told the Los Angeles Times: ”The west is completely ignoring the basis for piracy in Somalia. The pirates are in the water because there is a nationwide complaint about the illegal mass fishing going on in Somali waters. And nuclear toxic waste is illegally being dumped on our shores. People in Somalia know about this.”

As a boy, K’Naan was sent hip-hop tapes from America by his father. At the age of eight, he fired his first gun and, at 11, blew up half his school when he accidentally detonated a hand grenade; he also saw three of his friends shot dead. He fled the Somali capital, Mogadishu, with his mother in 1991, just as the country sank into civil war. But he once declared: ”I don’t go around doing interviews about how my history is more violent than 50 Cent’s.”

K’Naan has collaborated with Nelly Furtado, Mos Def and the Roots, and his three albums have received strong reviews. Rolling Stone described him as someone who ”thinks like Bob Marley, flows like Eminem and mixes African music with conscious hip-hop, unabashed pop and even metal”.

He has performed in 15 African countries while accompanying the World Cup trophy on its tour of the continent, culminating in a street concert at Friday’s draw in Cape Town. A new version of ”Wavin’ Flag” is released next year.

 Sources:

Zlatan fick den manliga priset på idrotts galan igår

 

Ni som såg på idrottsgalan igår, hur späningeg steg när svenska folket skulle rösta årets jeringpriset.  För min del jag röstade på Zlatan.  Jag tyckete att han gjorde ett fantastikt insats i Italien. Han bleb den förste svensk som på 55 år vann skytte ligan i  Italien. Det skulle bli bra om han fick den igår också.  Men vi får nöja med oss den manliga priset. Han har dessutom fååt två priser i Italien.

Grattis Zlatan

Kenyan Parliament Deputy Speaker, Farah Ma’allin, Gives Historic Speech At Joint Session Of Somaliland’s Legislators

Kenyan Parliament Deputy Speaker, Farah Ma’allin, Gives Historic Speech At Joint Session Of Somaliland’s Legislators

Hargeysa, Somaliland, December 26, 2009 (SL Times) – A Kenyan parliamentary delegation led by Kenyan Parliament Deputy Speaker, Farah Maallin Ahmed, arrived in Hargeysa this week on an official visit. They were met at the airport by the Speaker of Somaliland Parliament, Abdirahman Muhammad Abdillahi, the first Deputy Speaker of Somaliland parliament, Abdi al-Aziz Muhammad Samaale, the Minister of Finance, Hussein Ali Duale (Awil), the Minister of Interior, Abdillahi Ismail Ali, the Mayor of Hargeysa, Hussein Mohamud Jiir, and Somaliland diplomat, Muhammad Aar. Speaking to the press, the Kenyan Parliament Deputy Speaker, Farah Maallin, said the purpose of their visit is to get a close look at the situation in Somaliland and the condition of Somali refugees. The delegation met with Somaliland’s president, the leaders of the political parties and civil society groups. They also visited Sheikh and the port of Berbera. But the high point of their visit was the historic speech that the honorable Farah Ma’allin gave at a joint session of Somaliland’s lower and Upper House. The speech was both in Somali and English. In his speech, Farah Maallin praised the people and leaders of Somaliland for the peace and stability in the country. He said although he is from Kenya, the world is now a global village and they follow closely events in Somaliland and whenever Somaliland is hurt they feel hurt and whenever Somaliland does well, they also feel well. He said he is impressed with Somaliland’s political culture which is based on consulting with the people which is what democracy is all about. He added that there is no contradiction between Islam and democracy, and that the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) practiced Shura and did not impose a leader on Muslims but instead let Muslims to choose a leader among themselves after he died. Farah Maallin warned Somalilanders against conflict in the coming elections. He reminded Somaliland’s leaders that whatever problems arise they should focus on solving it themselves through peaceful means, as Somalilanders are known for, and not through violence. He also urged Somalilanders not to put much faith in foreign mediation saying that their experience in the Kenyan election dispute has shown that foreigners are often not as sincere as they seem and have their own interests. When it comes to recognizing Somaliland, he said that is a decision for his country’s government to make. But he did give his personal opinion which was that Somaliland can secede from Somalia but Somalis will always need each other. As he put it, “if you secede, it is fine; if you don’t secede it is also fine; but Somalis will always have links no matter what happens and the important thing is to try to save what can be saved.” He lambasted the warring factions in south Somalia and said, “Those men in Mogadishu have no power and no freedom and are in no position to decide whether Somaliland secedes or not because there’s nothing there.” He also called what is going on in Mogadishu shameful and has nothing to do with Islam. Farah Maallin concluded by promising that he and his colleagues in the Kenyan parliament will do all they can to help Somaliland and Somalis. Farah Maallin’s speech was warmly welcomed by the Somalilanders in the legislative hall and beyond. Somaliland’s legislative leaders thanked the Kenyan delegation. The first Deputy Speaker of Somaliland’s Upper House, Ahmad Sheikh Nuh Furreh praised Farah Ma’allin for his brilliant speech and outstanding knowledge, but he also reminded his guests that Somaliland has been waiting for twenty years to get the diplomatic recognition it deserves. “If Somaliland is recognized, it could then help with solving Somalia’s problem,” added Ahmad Sheikh Nuh Furreh. There are historical relations between Kenya and Somaliland. The two countries once used the same currency when they were both under British administration, and people of Somaliland origin played an important role in establishing Nairobi city. This is not the first high level Kenyan delegation that visits Somaliland. The current Kenyan Prime Minister Raila Odinga visited Somaliland and called on the international community to recognize Somaliland when he was the minister of energy. Kenyan parliament member, Paul Muite, led a parliamentary committee on a visit to Somaliland in 2006 and said Somaliland should be recognized as a sovereign state. Professor Ali Mazrui, one of Africa’s most renowned intellectuals and a native of Kenya is among many Kenyans who believe in Somaliland’s right to international diplomatic recognition. source: Somaliland Times

Bolloré May Sign $700 Million Port Agreement With Somaliland

 Jason McLure

Dec. 23 (Bloomberg) — Bolloré Africa Logistics, a unit of Bollore SA, may sign an agreement to manage the port of Berbera and oversee $700 million of upgrades to the facility in Somalia’s breakaway northern Somaliland region, Abdillahi Duale, the foreign minister, said.

“Our discussions are already in an advanced stage,” Duale said today in an interview in the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa. “We have already made a basic agreement.”

Representatives of Bolloré, an investment company controlled by French billionaire Vincent Bollore, have met with Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi and Somaliland President Dahir Riyale to discuss the agreement which will probably be signed next year, he said. Berbera port handles food aid and other cargo bound for landlocked Ethiopia.

Port revenue provides approximately 75 percent of the Somaliland government’s $50 million in annual revenue. Somaliland, a former British protectorate that merged with Italy’s Somali colony in 1960 to form Somalia, has remained largely free of violence during the 18-year civil war in central and southern Somalia.

To contact the reporter on this story: Jason McLure in Addis Ababa via Johannesburg on pmrichardson@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: December 23, 2009 08:51 EST

Source: B loomberg.com

Saabs undergång

Saabs under är ett faktum nu. GM lägger ner Saab. Sorligt för Sverige ochför de anställda.

Tiger Woods kvinno affär

Ni har väl sett de senaste dagarna hur vi vanliga medborgare, dränks tidningars, tv, radio nyheter om Tiger Woods kvinno affärer.  Och hur svenska media feta rupriker varje dag om denna såpa, världens drama. Det här är kändis företelse, vem blir förvånad. Låt de själva sköta det här, de är vuxna männisor Tiger och Wood.

Africa’s isolated state

Africa’s isolated state

By Richard Lough in Hargeisa, Somaliland

A rooftop view of Hargeisa, capital of Somaliland, which is home to half a million people  Abdilahi Omar sips on a glass of sweet milky tea as traffic in Hargeisa, Somaliland’s capital, increases ahead of the morning rush. In front of him young boys ride their donkey carts to the river to collect water while ice-cream trucks serving soft-scoop start their rounds. ”So you can see, Hargeisa is calm,” says the newspaper editor gesturing to the traffic police armed not with automatic rifles but with fluorescent batons and whistles. ”People are going to work peacefully, you can walk freely. There are no guns on the streets here.” This is not Somalia as the outside world knows it. But then, Somalilanders will tell you this is not Somalia. Period. Somaliland, which is 137,600 square kilometres in size (comparable to England and Wales) and lies to the north of Mogadishu, is also a territory in limbo: it prints its own currency, flies its own flag and even issues its own passports. But it is a state no other country will recognise. Turbulent history Somaliland won its independence from Britain in June 1960, a few days before Italy relinquished colonial control of neighbouring Somalia. An emotional union ensued, creating a Somali Republic with its capital located in Mogadishu. But it soon proved to be an unhappy marriage. ”Somaliland became the poor relative, the isolated, forgotten corner of the Union,” Edna Adan, a retired senior UN official and former wife of Somalia’s first Prime Minister, Mohammed Ibrahim Egal, told Al Jazeera. Issues over adequate political representation for Somaliland in the national parliament and government fuelled resentment and distrust and led to the creation of a rebel group opposed to Mogadishu’s control. By the time the war ended in 1991 Somali bombers had razed Hargeisa to the ground but the Republic had crumbled leaving Mogadishu in the hands of warring tribes. Somaliland’s own clan-based society emerged from three decades of turmoil and the conflict with Mogadishu deeply divided. But on May 18, 1991, tribal elders held negotiations in the shade of Acacia trees and in the ruins of schools before unilaterally declaring Somaliland independent. Today, in downtown Hargeisa a Soviet-era MiG fighter jet sits mounted on a plinth to remind people of the civil war Somaliland rebels fought against Siad Barre, who ruled Somalia from 1969 to 1991. International obscurity A Soviet-era MiG fighter in downtown Hargeisa reminds people of the civil war   But despite a degree of stability compared to many corners of the continent, not least the perennial chaos in Somalia, Somaliland leaders say the outside world has turned its back on them. The government of Somalia does not recognise Somaliland’s independence. Mohammed Osman Aden, the first consul at the Somali Republic embassy in Nairobi, told Al Jazeera there has been no country-wide referendum which allows for Somaliland’s secession. ”Somaliland is categorically a part of Somalia. It is one of the regions where we have good stability. No matter what they are part of Somalia,” he said. However, he does not believe conflict will be renewed. ”We are not applying any pressure right now because we have other priorities in southern Somalia. When southern Somalia is viable we will talk with Somaliland. There will be no problem, we will talk easily,” Aden added.  But with no international support for Somaliland’s independence, Hargeisa may have little negotiating room. African neighbours have refused to allow the Horn of Africa to be partitioned and the UN and other international countries have refused to recognise Somaliland’s secession. ”The international community has taken the wrong decision, ignoring Somaliland while it waits for Somalia to wake from its coma,” said Dahir Riyale Kahin, Somaliland’s President. Self-sustenance Money vendors in Hargesia have substituted bank transfers  The lack of political recognition has also meant that it is impossible for Hargesia to negotiate loans and assistance from international donors. It is not party to the International Monetary Fund or the World Bank. ”We are a democratically functioning state … but the international community is hindering our success,” Kahin told Al Jazeera.      With lack of international donor assistance, Somaliland’s infrastructure is slowly being crippled. There is no international postal service here and no banking system recognised by financial institution abroad. Exchange companies and money vendors provide an alternative for funds coming in and out of Somaliland. The paediatric ward at the Hargeisa General Hospital – the country’s only referral hospital – swarms with flies. The plaster-board ceiling is caving in. The ward’s only oxygen cylinder lies discarded in a corner, covered in dust. ”The facilities here are very limited,” said Dr Farhan Omar, one of 16 junior doctors who qualified last year, the first to train locally for years. “We have three severely malnourished young children and we don’t even have the high-energy milk they require.” The lack of doctors, drugs and equipment is woeful, but not a surprise. The government’s total budget this year is a modest $50 million  – Britain spends that on health alone every four hours. Somaliland’s health, education, and infrastructure sectors require massive inflows of cash. But for as long as Somaliland’s international status remains disputed, financial assistance will remain out of reach. So, too, will bilateral agreements with foreign governments. Diaspora Money Related Articles Somaliland leaves Somalis in limbo Economic success in Somaliland Vote rekindles Somaliland’s hopes Somalia: More chaos Somalia most unstable state It is money from the Diaspora that is behind Hargeisa’s transformation from concrete-ruin to bustling-city. Glass-fronted multi-storey buildings now dot the skyline while numerous telecommunications companies vie for a slice of the lucrative Internet market. ”I came here first and foremost for the money. It is your money and business is business,” said Abdul Abdirihaman Wabere, a Somaliland entrepreneur. Wabere fled to North America at the outset of war in the 1980s. Now he divides his time between the US and Hargeisa where he runs a successful IT firm. ”There was nostalgia too. This is my country and we have brought a technology that was not here before and that itself is a leap-frog,” he added.   Many families still depend on remittances from relatives living abroad. The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) believes the Diaspora sends home more than $500 million to Somaliland every year. Wabere fears this gives Somalilanders a false sense of financial security when ultimately their economy remains fragile. Charm Offensive Hargesia says neighbouring Somalia is still unstable due to continued armed conflict [EPA]  The Somaliland government is trying to charm its way to global recognition. Kahin recently offered Somaliland’s natural deep-water harbour at Berbera as a home for America’s AFRICOM headquarters. ”Our only hope is the US which says it promotes democracy and has spent a lot of money in the Middle East,” says Faizal Warabe, Chairman of Somaliland’s opposition Justice and Welfare Party and a candidate in next year’s presidential elections. The government is quick to highlight its democratic credentials in comparison to the lawlessness of its southern neighbour. However, there are shortcomings. Critics claim the government is repressive, exerting excessive control over political opponents and the media. Allegations of corruption tarnish the government’s record.    ”There is a lot of internal mismanagement of finances. Even within the Ministry of Finance there are no systems of accountability,” confirmed one UN official on condition of anonymity. Nevertheless, Somalilanders feel they should be allowed to reap the peace dividend. That should start with formal recognition, argues Edna Adan. Anything else is a slap in the face to a country pushing for peace and stability. “Failure to recognise Somaliland is a failure to recognise democracy itself. The achievements of Somaliland could have been a good example for other African countries,” she said.

Source: Al Jazeera