How To Create Blogs

I interviewed Somaliland's chief of chiefs, Haji Warabe, for a special BBC Newshour programme to mark Queen Elizabeth II's Diamond Jubilee. He spoke about his long career as a nomad (100 years) and a chief (70 years), and the secrets of longevity. He also explained how he got the name 'Warabe' which means 'Hyena' in Somali. Haji Warabe You can listen to the audio by clicking on the link below: Haji Warabe speaks And you can read Chief Warabe's story via this link: BBC Online story on The Chief and the Queen I bet he remembers this stamp Still going strong at '115' The BBC correspondent in Somaliland, Ahmed Said Egeh, helped record the interview

FIFTH HARGEISA INTERNATIONAL BOOK FAIR The Red Sea Cultural Foundation and its partners are pleased to announce that the Fifth Hargeysa International Book Fair (HIBF) will take place between 13 th and 18 th July 2012. Jama Musse Jama, Director of the Hargeysa International Book Fair, says “The Hargeysa International Book Fair has grown exponentially over the past five years, both in size and significance. It not only represents the main platform for arts in Somaliland, but it is now one of the largest public celebrations of literature in East Africa”. HIBF is proud to host and present the work of internationally based writers, journalists, scholars, independent thinkers and artists. We are excited to welcome to this year’s Book Fair Sheikh Maxamuud Sheekh Dalmar and Said Salah Ahmed. Said Salah Ahmed is a highly-esteemed playwright, poet and teacher who currently lives in Minnesota. Sheikh Mahamoud Sheikh Dalmar is a public intellectual, Islamic scholar and Radio and TV producer, who

President Alim of Galmudug and President Farole of Puntland The Presidents of the semi-autonomous Somali regions of Puntland and Galmudug say they are not going to the forthcoming Istanbul conference on Somalia. I have just received a statement signed by both of them saying they are not going because, they say, "the Turkish role in Somalia is a) misbalanced, b) objects to consulting the Somali people, c) politically motivated in cohort with the foreign policy of some countries, and d) not transparent enough for the people to make a sound judgement."

Here are some photos of the six Somali leaders who are signatories of the process to end the seemingly endless political transition in the country. I met them in Addis Ababa where, with the 'help' of the UN, US, UK and AU, they agreed on a very tight and challenging diary to ensure the political transition will end on the deadline of 20 August 2012. The President of Somalia, Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed Me with the Somali president (but will he be after the August 20 deadline for the transition to end?) Prime minister of Somalia, Abdiweli Mohamed Ali Me with the Somali PM who assured me the transition would end on time and wouldn't say whether he wants to run for president. The Speaker of the (now defunct) Somali parliament, Sharif Hassan Sheikh Adan I asked the Speaker whether he still had a job now that parliament was officially declared defunct. He told me he did have a job because he was still a 'signatory'. The President of Somalia's semi-autonomous region of

Consultative Meeting of the Somali Signatories of the Process for Ending the Transition Addis Ababa, May 23, 2012: the Somali signatories of the process for ending the transition held a consultative meeting in The African Union Headquarters, from May 21 to May 23, 2012. The meeting was hosted by the African Union and facilitated by the Office of the UN Special Representative for Somalia (UNPOS). The meeting was attended by the signatories of the process for ending the transition, including HE Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed, President of the Transitional Federal Government (TFG); HE Sharif Hassan Sheikh Aden, Speaker of the Transitional Federal Parliament (TFP), HE Dr. Abdiweli Mohamed Ali, Prime Minister of TFG; HE Abdirahman Mohamed Mohamud (Farole), President of Puntland State; HE Mohamed Ahmed Aalim President of Galmudug State; Khaliif Abdulkadir Moallim Noor , Representative of Ahlu Sunnah Wal-Jama’a (ASWJ) and the UN Special Representative for Somalia (SRSG) Amb. Augustine Mahi

After three days of meetings - by day at the African Union headquarters in the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa, by night in the sumptuous Sheraton Hotel - three Somali presidents (from Mogadishu, Puntland and Galmudug), one Somali prime minister (from Mogadishu), one speaker of one Somali parliament (Mogadishu) and the head of one Islamic militia (the Sufi one, Ahlu Sunna Wal-Jama'a) have agreed on the latest way forward for the tortuous transition process. After much debate, argument, shouting and hugging, they have agreed that on August 20 a New Somali President will be elected by a New Federal Parliament (which itself will be sworn in on July 20). In other words, they say they will meet the deadline (just). The 'international community' (basically the Americans, the British and the United Nations) have spent a lot of time in the lobby of The Sheraton, either waiting for the six Somali delegations to arrive or huddling with different groups of Somalis, trying to get them t

Here's a piece I did for From Our Own Correspondent on BBC radio and for BBC Online. It's about my ride in a $500,000 car with a Somali millionaire in Dubai. Here's the car: You can listen to the BBC radio piece here:  The Golden Bentley You can read the BBC Online story here:  The Golden Bentley online Somali merchants at the port  Paint waiting to be taken by dhow to Mogadishu  Somali women's clothes for sale in Dubai souk  T-shirt for sale in Dubai souk     Entrance to the g old souk  The interview with the Bentley owner  The Bentley

This is a BBC report I did on the port of Berbera in Somaliland. More live animals are exported from Somali ports than anywhere else in the world. As you can see from the photos, the main animal exports are sheep, goats and camels. Getting camels onto a ship is quite a task; they have to be winched up on ropes. The sheep and goats are more obedient, even though they are going to certain death, as their meat is much loved by people in the Gulf, especially Saudi Arabia. http://soundcloud.com/maryharper-1/berbera-port

                                                                    Luanda, Angola

                                                             Hodan - a Somali superwoman The last time I visited Somaliland, I did a piece on women for the BBC World Service. You can listen to it here:  http://soundcloud.com/maryharper-1/somali-women Here is the online piece:  http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-17728348 Edna Adan Ismail at home in the Edna Hospital  Hargeisa's first art gallery, started by a woman Editor of The Bridge magazine, Amal Ismail                                                                   Women's gym in Hargeisa

These pictures of Mogadishu through the ages will be on display in Turkey later this month and in Nairobi next month. The exhibition is the dreamchild of the Kenyan writer and photojournalist, Rasna Warah, who gives more details below. MOGADISHU THEN AND NOW A pictorial tribute to Africa’s most wounded city 4 th to 24 th June 2012 Alliance Française, Nairobi For the last two decades, Somalia’s capital city Mogadishu has been portrayed as a war-torn no-go zone devoid of any history or culture.   However, the city has a long history that dates back to the 10 th century when Arab and Persian traders began settling there. Historical documents indicate that the city was a traditional centre for Islam and an important hub for trade with communities along the Indian Ocean coastline for centuries. From the early part of the 20 th century to the late 1980s, Mogadishu was known as one of the prettiest and most cosmopolitan cities in Africa. Mogadishu, or Xamar, as it is known l