The Somali-Canadian trapped in Kenya for 11 weeks is finally home in Canada, reunited with her 12-year-old son whom she believed she was only leaving for a 2 week vacation when she visited her mother. But while the trip is over, the residual effects of her ordeal are being debated across the internet. There appear to be two, and it’s a little frightening how...Continue reading »
Category Archives: Maqaallo / Articles
We came across this commentary and thought it might interest you. ______________________ Georgie Anne Geyer commentary: Some cultures are too different for their people to live together By Georgie anne geyer — The strangest thing about our “now-you-see-it, now-you-don’t” relationship with Somalia, that ungoverned space on the Horn of Africa, is...Continue reading »
In his attempt to improve relations with the Muslim world, President Obama has done what no other American president has ever done before. Starting with his inauguration speech in which he stressed on the importance of relaxing the defensive posture so that the demonization process could stop. Following with his speech at the Turkish Parliament in which he offered the...Continue reading »
After months of stonewalling, the Canadian government is finally bringing Suaad Hagi Mohamud’s needless exile in Kenya to a close by preparing travel documents for her return home. For family and friends in Toronto’s Somali community, that is a relief. But it hardly lets Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s government off the hook. The shameful...Continue reading »
A new hotbed of terror could be a domestic problem for Obama. But he shouldn’t treat it like one. Ken Menkhaus — As Hillary Clinton was holding talks with Somali President Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed today in Nairobi, Kenya — Mogadishu being far too dangerous for a U.S. secretary of state to visit — Somalia itself stood once again at a violent...Continue reading »
Last winter, as I sat and talked with panic-stricken mothers whose sons had gone missing, each told a painful story about a boy for whom their families had great hopes. Their stories reflect the pain in the Somali community, which has been torn apart by a sheer twist of faith. My inability to console the parents by helping them understand what had happened to their sons...Continue reading »
Waxa dadka xaq doonkaa lagu gartaa markii la hor dhigo qodob gar ah dib ayey u joogsadaan wayna gar qaataan. Dadka ahlul baadilkaana waa is maqiiqaan oo isla waynankoodaa denbi ku xanbaara (Haddii la yiraahdo alle ka cabso, islaweyni buu danbiga ugu sii bareera) Albaqara 206. Xadiithka rasuulkana csw wuxuu yiri : (haddii uu muran ama dood galo waa xadgudbaa) oo...Continue reading »
Qalinkii: Yasin Jama Nuh (Suldaan) Hordhac: Diiwaangelinta waxaynu galnay innaga oo aan aqoonsi caalami ah iyo haykal dowladnimo oo fiican midna lahayn. Guddida doorashooyinku cusub tahay oo aanay waayo-aragnimo iyo aqoon fiican toonna lahayn, dastuurkeennu aanu dhammaystirnayn oo weli uu qabyo yahay (first draft), maamulka dowladnimo tamar daran yahay, dadkeennu “ummiâ€...Continue reading »
By MARK HELPRIN Dear Mr. Yusuf: Here is our memorandum, as promised, and we very much enjoyed meeting you (please return Mr. Goldstein, the fax machine, and the candy bowl). Your business model is admirable in view of its low start-up costs, high return on investment, lack of long-term obligations to employees, freedom from taxation, agility in the face of changing conditions,...Continue reading »
The book “Black Hawk Down†and the subsequent movie did a good job describing the U.S. debacle in Somalia in 1993. The quick retreat of U.S. troops after this incident led Osama Bin Laden to describe the U.S. as a paper tiger that could not bear losses. Now sixteen years later, Somalia is in a worse shape than it was then and now about to fall into the hands...Continue reading »
Because he is just like Vice President Cheney, only smarter. Why is Osama Bin Ladin likely in Somalia? Osam Bin Laden is likely hiding in Somalia because he is very, very, intelligent. Osama Bin Laden is more intelligent than Dick Cheney. And Osama Bin Laden is certainly more intelligent than Cheney’s “secret assination team” because Dick Cheney’s...Continue reading »
Barack Obama and Africa How different is his policy? Barack Obama said all the right things about Africa—and left a few ticklish ones unsaid. The tone may shift a bit but the policy will be similar to George Bush’s “DEVELOPMENT depends on good governance.†Said by a white Texan dynast in Ghana, an African country once ravaged by the slave trade,...Continue reading »
Whether in Somalia or elsewhere, any attempt to tame religious extremism with violence leads to costly tragedies and disenchantments. And anyone who doubts this ought to simply reevaluate the miserable results of GWT — the global war on terrorism. So it goes without saying: a non-violent paradigm to solving problems is direly needed. And since political problems...Continue reading »
***By Chris — The Somali situation is very much in the news but many Kenyans have no idea that we have been at war with the Somalis before—and it was for a long time. There was heavy loss of life in that war (the numbers are still a closely guarded state secret) and in my book the Somalis won that war… easily. Indeed even Kenyans who were old enough...Continue reading »
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Obama administration’s recent move to increase aid to Somalia takes aim at Islamic extremists’ safe havens, pouring resources into a government that analysts say may not be worth salvaging. Resolving the Somalia dilemma demands that the U.S. walk a delicate line — politically and militarily. Haunted by a disastrous 1993 U.S....Continue reading »
One of nine suspected Somali pirates is arrested Thursday after an attempt to hijack the cargo ship MV Marie K in the Gulf of Eden. (AP) Ahmed Dirie – SFGate —Â As a native son of Eyl, the historic hamlet that is now notorious as the hub for Somali piracy, and as a Somali who has sought refuge in the United States from the anarchy that is Somalia, I am deeply...Continue reading »
Globe & Mail - Deputy Africa program director and communications director, the International Crisis Group ***** The escalating violence in southern Somalia, especially in the battered capital, Mogadishu, risks undermining the modest political gains made since last December. Unless concerted and urgent steps are taken to mediate a speedy end to this fighting, there...Continue reading »
Mogadishu residents converge around the body of a government soldier who caught fire during intense fighting. With fighting raging in Somalia, pirates running amok in the Indian Ocean and the internationally recognized government about to fall, it would appear that the Al Shabaab Islamic movement will soon be having the last laugh. Though Kenya is a key backer of President...Continue reading »
THE CONTINUING FIGHTING in Mogadishu underlines the daunting task that faces the newly-elected Somali president, Sheikh Sharif Ahmed. His election marked a dramatic return for the former head of the Union of Islamic Courts administration, which controlled most of southern Somalia for six months in 2006. He was always seen as the moderate face of the UIC. But winning...Continue reading »
Fiidiyoowgaan oo ay noosoo gudbiyeen Somali TV Minneapolis waxay si fiican uga hadlaysaa Heybsooca ay Soomaalidu ilaa iyo maanta isticmaasho. Aqoonyahanada ka qeyb qaadanaya fiidiyoowgaan waxaa ka mid ah : Idaajaa, Siciid Saalax, Cali Khaliif Galayr, Axmed Daakir, Maxamed Xayd, Hadraawi, Cali Yaab Arag, Said Cali Muuse, C/risaaq Xaaji Xuseen, Sangub iyo aqoonyahano...Continue reading »
