Wednesday, February 04, 2009
Somali developments
My confidential (and "highly-placed") Somali source sent me this information on the new president of Somalia: "What I can tell you about him is my own observations of him and his team (the ARS) during the last 9 months but also the differents talks and discussions that I had with manu Somalis and others participants during the negociations of the Djibouti Agreement. What struck me from the beginning was the discipline of Sheikh Sharif at many level: I never saw him loosing his temper even during the most heated times of the negociations. Secondely, I was really amazed by the discipline of his team of negociations: always on time and well prepared... while the TFG team were always in disarray and fighting each others. Third, the composition of his team is very diverse: intellectuals, business peoples, women, youths, elders... etc. And, althought I never had the chance to participate at one of their private meeting, I get informations from some of the participants that Sheikh Sharif style is a participatory one, that he have a great skill when it come to listen to everyones and that he also have great communications skills. Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed was born on July 25, 1964 in the Shabeellaha Dhexe province of Somalia and studied at Libyan and Sudanese universities. He has worked as a secondary school teacher of geography, Arabic, and religious studies. He speaks Arabic, Somali, and English, and he is from the Abgaal branch of the Hawiye clan (one of the two major clan in Somalia, the other one is the Darood clan).. Sheik Sharif Sheikh Ahmed started his education in Somalia at the Sheik Sufi Institute which was connected to the University of Al-Azhar in Egypt. He then continued his education by entering into Kurdufan University in Sudan where he persued a degree in Islamic law. He the left for Tripoli, Libya and entered into the Open University there where he completed his Islamic law degree in 1998. He came back to Somalia in 2000 when the TFG was created during the Arta Conference in Djibouti and the election of a first president (that was close to the Islamist): Abdikasim Salad Hassan. Soon after, he became involved with the ICU that will take power in Mogadishu from the warlords in June 2006. On December 28, 2006, after only six months in power and the defeat of the ICU's army, he committed himself to fighting the Ethopian forces in Somalia. After the ICU's defeat, he fled towards the Kenyan border. Sheikh Sharif is married and he have two children, Ahmad, aged 9 and Abdullah, who is a toddler. He live in a modest house in Mogadishu. The others things that I can tell you is that for the first time, the MPs vote wasn't a vote based on clan and ethnicity but a sign that a lot of MPs see Sheikh Sharif as a geniune leader that can bring everyone togheter. Beside, I witnessed from my discussion with the MPs and others Somali participants that there is a real fatigue of the ongoing fight. Sheikh Sharif is the only one people remember that brought peace and security to Mogadishu from the warlords in 2006. Furthermore, he is young, talented, and a lot of peoples were telling me that he is an "honest guy" compared to all the others politicians. Finally, a lot of people appreciate the fact that this guy is not ashamed of being a muslim during a time when that definition is associated with terrorism. That's all for now As'ad!"
The enemy of my enemy is also my enemy
Comrade Joseph: "The Egyptian regime, which considers Israel its most important ally in the region after the United States, believes correctly that Israel is not trying to undermine it, which is why Israel has not been an enemy of Egypt since the mid 1970s. The days when Israel tried to destroy the Arab nationalist regime of Gamal Abdel Nasser are over, and since his successor Anwar Sadat's capitulationist overtures, Israel has been a sure supporter of the Egyptian regime, which supports Israel in turn, sometimes as many have recently speculated, to the regime's own detriment. Since the Reagan years, Israel has also become the friend of the Saudi regime and later the rest of the Gulf monarchies, not to mention its longstanding friendship with the Moroccan kings. The Tunisian regime of Habib Bourguiba also refused to consider Israel an enemy since the 1960s as had fascist Christian forces in Lebanon which considered it and still consider it a friend. Most important in this context is how the Palestinian Authority (PA) under Yasser Arafat and Mahmoud Abbas no longer considered Israel an enemy, except briefly under Arafat before he died and when he realized that Israel was out to unseat him. Otherwise, both Arafat and Abbas, whose term as PA president expired on 9 January, could not and cannot get enough hugs and kisses from Israel's war criminal leaders." (in Arabic)
Middle East news broadcast
I woke up with this idea: to have an Angry Arab daily Middle East newscast. Of course, I don't have the time to manage and organize but may be seeking volunteers at some point (or can seek funding at a later point) . We can have a volunteer correspondent in many countries in the world , and they can contribute brief daily reports about developments in that country delivered through a webcam or some other form, and then we can collect in a daily newscast on the Web. This can begin on weekly basis, and then can become a daily newscast about Middle East developments. This may become essential as Saudi dominance in the media expands, especially as Qatar does not seem eager to confront Saudi provocations and hegemony.
Tuesday, February 03, 2009
Somali developments
My special (highly placed) source in Somalia sent me this: "Long time that I didn't write you about Somalia peace process going on in Djibouti...The last two weeks, the Ethiopian army completed their withdrawal of Somalia, a new enlarged Parliament was formed passing from 275 MPs to 550 MPs. Last night, the new Parliament met under heavy security (there were clear threats from the Shabab movement that they will try suicide operations) to elect a new president" There were 14 candidates but the 2 most important contenders were Sheikh Sharif and Nuur Addeh (prime minister). The later was clearly enjoying a lot of support from the US, the EU and in an indecent way by the Italian ambassador in Djibouti (by giving a lot money and even making available a 747 Boeing carrier for his traveling). After the first round, Nuur Addeh came at the third place and was beaten by the son of the former dictator of Somalia Mohamed Siad Barreh (Mr. Maslah M. Siad Barreh) by one vote! Nuur Addeh was really and litteraly living the meaning of his name: Addeh means in somali the "whitty" (the face of the guy was completely white!). He decided to withdraw from the second round. This is the number of each ones after the first round: Sheikh Sharif=215, Maslah M. Siad Barreh=60, Nuur Addeh=59. At the second round, Sheikh Sharif won 293 votes while the son of the former dictatur of Somalia who took power by a Coup d'etat and destroyed a very democratic government, won 126 votes. Immediately after the swearing ceremony, Sheikh Sharif will go to Addis Ababa (capital of Ethiopia) to participate at the African Union meeting. It will be great to see the faces of the Ethiopian government who will receive the leader of the Islamic Union courts, the same group that they were suppose to fight against. (please don't mention my name, thanks!)"
Winning hearts AND minds
"The document reads depressingly like a treatment for an Abu Ghraib-inspired sequel involving American power, the Arab world, sexual violence, and digital photography. As the text shows, there appear to be layers of this story yet to be revealed—none of them likely to help President Obama’s outreach campaign in the Muslim world. The document refers, for example, to multiple women photographed by Warren, the alleged assailant, whom it describes as a convert to Islam." (thanks Laleh)
Palestinian refugees in Lebanon
"Despite facing severe work restrictions, most Palestinian refugee households have at least one family member who is employed, constitute 10 per cent of all private consumption in Lebanon, and do not burden the Lebanese welfare system, a recent report has found."
Liberated
"The mortality caused by the war is also high. Several household surveys were conducted between 2004 and 2007. While there are differences among them, the range suggests a congruence of estimates. But none have been conducted for eighteen months, and the two most reliable surveys were completed in mid-2006. The higher of those found 650,000 "excess deaths" (mortality attributable to war); the other yielded 400,000. The war remained ferocious for twelve to fifteen months after those surveys were finished and then began to subside. Iraq Body Count, a London NGO that uses English-language press reports from Iraq to count civilian deaths, provides a means to update the 2006 estimates. While it is known to be an undercount, because press reports are incomplete and Baghdad-centric, IBC nonetheless provides useful trends, which are striking. Its estimates are nearing 100,000, more than double its June 2006 figure of 45,000."
Wahhabi lessons
"Saudi Arabia yesterday urged the Palestinians to adopt a new and realistic concept of resistance that would realize their unity, strengthen their legitimate organizations, protect their lives and properties and ensure their legitimate rights." To be lectured on resistance by Saudi Wahhabi royals is like being lectured on peace by Bush.
Saudi Promotion of Virtue
"The Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice and the Public Prosecution in Makkah are investigating the case of an Indonesian AIDS victim who was raped by 46 men, including one police officer, around a month ago." (thanks Olivia)
Foreign maids in Lebanon
"News reports on Wednesday said the Sri Lankan helper was being treated for wounds and fractures she suffered after throwing herself from the second floor of the embassy building. She is in critical condition." Notice that this item was buried at the end of the article and that the headline focused on the theft. (thanks Laure)
Memory of George Habash
"About 30 demonstrators from the Israeli-Arab Abnaa elBalad Movement (Sons of the Land) rallied in Haifa yesterday in protest of a police decision to ban an open-air memorial service for George Habash, the founder of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine. The PFLP is considered a terrorist organization in Israel." (thanks Marcy)
Kahanism = Zionism
Do you think that I find any difference between Labor, Likud, Kadima and Kach? They are all the same as far as I am concerned.
Foxman against Moyers
"Take, for example, Foxman's recent attack on Bill Moyers (a longstanding friend and occasional supporter of my work). When Moyers broadcast a less than laudatory commentary about Israel's Gaza invasion, Foxman accused the veteran journalist and liberal icon of--I kid you not--"moral equivalency, racism, historical revisionism, and indifference to terrorism." (You can read it online, together with Moyers's response.) The incident says far more about Foxman than Moyers. As M.J. Rosenberg of the Israel Policy Forum observed, Moyers "is one of the most admired figures in America. This attack will harm not at all. It will, in fact, enhance his reputation just as Ed Murrow's was enhanced by the attacks on him during the McCarthy era." Still, it is demonstrative of the maximalist Manichaean mindset that characterizes so much of American Jewish officialdom. Among Moyers's myriad sins, says Foxman, was his "ignorance of the terrorist threat against Israel, claiming that checkpoints, the security fence, and the Gaza operation are tactics of humiliation rather than counter-terrorism."" (thanks Sellam)
Did you say jump, o Zionist Master?
"For the past twenty years or so I've been working as a fixer, translator, advisor – call it whatever you want – with most of the foreign media. And of course in this work with the international media I got myself a number of jobs, one of which I'm still doing. I even have colleagues here. For the past twenty years I've been working with NBC News, and I was blogging for Commentary Magazine also. I was writing for U.S. News and World Report, occasionally for the Wall Street Journal, and a number of British tabloids. In the course of this work with the international media I became a writer and analyst of Palestinian affairs and a film producer for the BBC. About eight years ago, when the Second Intifada started, I started writing for the Jerusalem Post about Palestinian issues. And I still work with the international media. My job is to serve as the eyes and ears of the international media." The thing about Khaled Abu Toameh is that he would have been a great asset to his Zionist masters/handlers if he were talented: the man can't write and can't speak and his intellectual powers are akin to those of Sa`d Haddad. (thanks Ben)
Extreme ugliness
"Then there’s a more interesting cluster of awkward talents based in Iran, Iraq, Lebanon. This group produces art that has had much less exposure to the familiar shorthands of the West, and is distinguished instead by a startling originality that often segues into extreme ugliness." (thanks Nikki)
Ousted Chief of Jordanian Mukhabarat
This is quite something. The ousted chief of Jordanian intelligence is holding court and pontificating on Jordan's foreign policy. The fellow is now posing as an enemy of Israel and as an advocate of resistance to Israel. It is puzzling that the the Jordanian leftist, Nahid Hatr, is promoting this unsavory royal character.
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