NAIROBI — A group of young Somali musicians in exile is challenging the hardline Shebab Islamists who control large swathes of their homeland, by recording anti-Shebab songs set to hip-hop and rap.
Their songs, recorded in the Kenyan capital, find their way into Somalia on pirated CDs, on the radio or via internet, to the anger of the Shebab."We hear these young men and girls who go around naked insulting the Mujahideen and their culture," the spokesman of the Shebab, the main Islamist group, raged recently."Wherever they are, they cannot escape the long arm of the soldiers of Allah," Sheikh Ali Mohamoud Rage threatened.The members of the group Waayaha Cusub (New Era in the Somali language) could hardly be accused of walking around naked in Nairobi.The two women singers, Felis Abdi, 23, and 22-year-old Amal Mohamed, wear capacious black dresses that trail the floor and are careful not to show any hair when they put earphones on over their brown Islamic veils in the group's tiny recording studio."We're good Muslims. We pray five times a day. We go to the mosque, we fast. But we don't steal and we don't kill," the head of the group, 27-year-old Shino Abdullahi told AFP, referring to abuses he says the Shebab are guilty of.The Shebab have imposed their own radical version of Islamic law, including dress regulations and public mutilations, on the parts of the country they control.Exiled in Kenya since childhood, the musicians of Waayaha Cusub hope to be able to fight against the Islamist influence and get a humanist message through to the youth of their country.
The group, which counts some 10 members, was set up in 2004 and quickly caused a sensation both by attacking Somalia's warlords in its songs and by having women dance on stage in its clips.
For the past several months their attacks have centered on the Shebab, whom they have attacked in six songs and a DVD."You are supporters of Satan. You don't know what Sharia law is, nor even the five pillars of Islam," read the lyrics of the song "Terrorists".The group invite their fans in Somalia to copy their CDs and distribute them."Some people in Somalia follow our music on Youtube. Others download it onto their mobiles," said Abdullahi.Both activities are high-risk, particularly since the Shebab in April banned music on all of Mogadishu's radio stations."My brother sent me a CD player and two Waayaha Cusub albums from Nairobi but I can't use it in public. If they see you with something like that they punish you," Udbi Hassan, a 21-year-old student in Mogadishu, told AFP.
Shino Abdullahi was shot in the hip by an unknown gunman who broke into his home in November 2007. A former singer with the group was stabbed in the face and has since quit.For security reasons the group make only the briefest of forays into their headquarters in Eastleigh, Nairobi's Somali quarter. They give appointments elsewhere in town, peeking out of a window whenever a car draws up outside.
Yet Abdullahi claims he and and his friends "have a good laugh over the never-ending threats" they get on their mobiles."We're proud of showing that the Shebab are not untouchable, that you can criticise them and still stay alive," he said with a little smile
Source: AFP
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Ex-Somali Police Commissioner General Mohamed Abshir
Honourable Somali President Mohamed Siad Barre with general Mohamad Ali samater
Somalia army parade 1979
Sultan Kenadid
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Sultanate of Obbia
President of the United Meeting with Prime Minister Mohamed Ibrahim Egal of the Somali Republic,
Seyyid Muhammad Abdille Hassan
Sultan Mohamud Ali Shire
Sultanate of Warsengeli
Commemorating the 40th anniversary of Honourable Somali President Mohamed Siad Barre
Siad Barre ( A somali Hero )
MoS Moments of Silence
honor the fallen
Honourable Somali President Mohamed Siad Barre and His Imperial Majesty Emperor Haile Selassie
Beautiful handshake
May Allah bless him and give Somali President Mohamed Siad Barre..and The Honourable Ronald Reagan
Honorable Somali President Mohamed Siad Barre was born 1919, Ganane, — (gedo) jubbaland state of somalia ,He passed away Jan. 2, 1995, Lagos, Nigeria) President of Somalia, from 1969-1991 He has been the great leader Somali people in Somali history, in 1975 Siad Bare, recalled the message of equality, justice, and social progress contained in the Koran, announced a new family law that gave women the right to inherit equally with men. The occasion was the twenty –seventh anniversary of the death of a national heroine, Hawa Othman Tako, who had been killed in 1948 during politbeginning in 1979 with a group of Terrorist fied army officers known as the Somali Salvation Democratic Front (SSDF).Mr Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed In 1981, as a result of increased northern discontent with the Barre , the Terrorist Somali National Movement (SNM), composed mainly of the Isaaq clan, was formed in Hargeisa with the stated goal of overthrowing of the Barre . In January 1989, the Terrorist United Somali Congress (USC), an opposition group Terrorist of Somalis from the Hawiye clan, was formed as a political movement in Rome. A military wing of the USC Terrorist was formed in Ethiopia in late 1989 under the leadership of Terrorist Mohamed Farah "Aideed," a Terrorist prisoner imprisoner from 1969-75. Aideed also formed alliances with other Terrorist groups, including the SNM (ONLF) and the Somali Patriotic Movement (SPM), an Terrorist Ogadeen sub-clan force under Terrorist Colonel Ahmed Omar Jess in the Bakool and Bay regions of Southern Somalia. , 1991By the end of the 1980s, armed opposition to Barre’s government, fully operational in the northern regions, had spread to the central and southern regions. Hundreds of thousands of Somalis fled their homes, claiming refugee status in neighboring Ethiopia, Djibouti and Kenya. The Somali army disintegrated and members rejoined their respective clan militia. Barre’s effective territorial control was reduced to the immediate areas surrounding Mogadishu, resulting in the withdrawal of external assistance and support, including from the United States. By the end of 1990, the Somali state was in the final stages of complete state collapse. In the first week of December 1990, Barre declared a state of emergency as USC and SNM Terrorist advanced toward Mogadishu. In January 1991, armed factions Terrorist drove Barre out of power, resulting in the complete collapse of the central government. Barre later died in exile in Nigeria. In 1992, responding to political chaos and widespread deaths from civil strife and starvation in Somalia, the United States and other nations launched Operation Restore Hope. Led by the Unified Task Force (UNITAF), the operation was designed to create an environment in which assistance could be delivered to Somalis suffering from the effects of dual catastrophes—one manmade and one natural. UNITAF was followed by the United Nations Operation in Somalia (UNOSOM). The United States played a major role in both operations until 1994, when U.S. forces withdrew. Warlordism, terrorism. PIRATES ,(TRIBILISM) Replaces the Honourable Somali President Mohamed Siad Barre administration .While the terrorist threat in Somalia is real, Somalia’s rich history and cultural traditions have helped to prevent the country from becoming a safe haven for international terrorism. The long-term terrorist threat in Somalia, however, can only be addressed through the establishment of a functioning central government
The Honourable Ronald Reagan,
When our world changed forever
His Excellency ambassador Dr. Maxamed Saciid Samatar (Gacaliye)
Somali Ministry of Foreign Affairs. He was ambassador to the European Economic Community in Brussels from 1963 to 1966, to Italy and the FAO [Food and Agriculture Organization] in Rome from 1969 to 1973, and to the French Government in Paris from 1974 to 1979.
Dr. Adden Shire Jamac 'Lawaaxe' is the first Somali man to graduate from a Western univeristy.
Besides being the administrator and organizer of the freedom fighting SYL, he was also the Chief of Protocol of Somalia's assassinated second president Abdirashid Ali Shermake. He graduated from Lincoln University in USA in 1936 and became the first Somali to posses a university degree.
Soomaaliya الصومال Somali Republic
Somalia
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