Wednesday, December 12, 2012

New hope for Somalia, says scholar MP


(CNN) -- War-torn Somalia moved a step closer to stability this September after picking its first president elected on home soil in decades.Political newcomer Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, an academic and activist who has also worked for the United Nations and other organizations, was sworn in the capital Mogadishu after defeating incumbent president Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed. The milestone vote was hailed by the international community as a sign of improving security in a nation plunged into chaos after years of vicious civil hostilities.Despite the move toward a more permanent government, the new president faces an uphill battle to rebuild the country and restore its shattered economy and crumbling infrastructure. Even though insurgents have fled Mogadishu and guns have fallen silent, portions of Somalia still remain lawless as large parts of the country are under the control of militants, such as the al Qaeda-linked group Al Shabaab.Distinguished Somali professor Ahmed Ismail Samatar, who also ran for president in the recent elections and is now a member of the new parliament, says the country's new leader is facing "heavy challenges that need to be lifted."

"He [Mohamud] cares about the country," says Samatar, leader of the HiilQaran political party. "And [there is] the possibility that his leadership will then bring a shift in gear and therefore moving towards that future that needs to be born."

Somalia may have been brought to its knees by decades of war but in the 1960s, after it threw off the chains of colonialism to gain its independence, it was a model of democracy, says Samatar."It's the first place in the continent, in sub-Saharan Africa, in which the head of the state will be defeated in parliamentary transparent elections and he will hand the keys ... to the victor and tell the nation that democracy is a precious thing. This is in 1967 -- the first sub-Saharan African head of state to be defeated in an election and then hand peacefully the order of the state and the institutions to the new president."Somalia was formed through the union of newly independent territories British Somaliland and Italian Somaliland in 1960. Aden Abdullah Osman Daar was Somalia's president until the 1967 election when Abdirashid Ali Shermarke became the country's second leader. But in 1969 he was assassinated; a military coup immediately followed and that regime ruled for more than 20 years. In January 1991, dictator Maxamed Siyaad Barre was overthrown in a civil war waged by clan-based guerrillas and warfare continues to this day."No African country has lost so much since the coming of independence in the continent in the 1960s," says Samatar.Samatar is the founding dean of the Institute for Global Citizenship at Macalester College, in Minnesota -- the state that's estimated to have the largest Somali population in the United States. His topics range from globalization and the world's political economy to African issues, specifically those of his home country.

After running for president, he has now returned to Macalaster College -- but as a member of Somalia's parliament he continues to remain engaged in the rebuilding of the country."I am driven because after 30 years of studying I have seen enough of the truth in front of me through scholarship," he says. "What ails Somali people and how they might overcome those problems."Samatar says that 15 years ago, it was hard to envision a bright future for Somalia."Today, though, it's a different story," he adds. "There are blades of hope growing among these cobblestones of difficult history," he explains, noting that Somalis are now exhausted by the ongoing war and civil strife."They are absolutely tired of a particular kind of religious Islamist militancy that wants to destroy the culture; they are tired of warlords who hijack particular opportunities for their own self interests ... and destroy what it's in place."So that exhaustion brings a certain kind of yearning for a new time and that's hope. They have had enough of this and they want something different."

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Ex-Somali Police Commissioner General Mohamed Abshir

Ex-Somali Police Commissioner  General Mohamed Abshir

Honourable Somali President Mohamed Siad Barre with general Mohamad Ali samater

Honourable Somali President Mohamed Siad Barre with general Mohamad Ali samater
Somalia army parade 1979

Sultan Kenadid

Sultan Kenadid
Sultanate of Obbia

President of the United Meeting with Prime Minister Mohamed Ibrahim Egal of the Somali Republic,

Seyyid Muhammad Abdille Hassan

Seyyid Muhammad Abdille Hassan

Sultan Mohamud Ali Shire

Sultan Mohamud Ali Shire
Sultanate of Warsengeli

Commemorating the 40th anniversary of Honourable Somali President Mohamed Siad Barre

Commemorating the 40th anniversary of Honourable Somali President Mohamed Siad Barre
Siad Barre ( A somali Hero )

MoS Moments of Silence

MoS Moments of Silence
honor the fallen

Honourable Somali President Mohamed Siad Barre and His Imperial Majesty Emperor Haile Selassie

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

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)

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.

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

Soomaaliya الصومال‎ Somali Republic
Somalia

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