Time to Reconginize Somaliland as an Independent Republic

By Peter J. Schraeder

The United States government should officially recognize the independence of Somaliland, a moderate Muslim democracy in the Horn of Africa. Such an argument may seem counterintuitive at a time when tensions are rising in the region. But I submit that it is precisely because of those rising tensions that it is time for the Bush administration to act, especially if it is truly serious about democracy promotion, counter-terrorism, and curtailing the spread of Islamic fundamentalism.

Why does Somaliland deserve U.S. recognition?

First and foremost, it is important to recollect that, after achieving independence from British colonial rule on June 26, 1960, Somaliland was duly recognized as a sovereign entity by the United Nations and thirty-five countries, including the United States. Several days later, on July 1, the independent country of Somaliland voluntarily joined with its newly independent southern counterpart (the former UN Trust Territory of Somalia that was a former Italian colony) to create the present-day Republic of Somalia. Somalilanders rightfully note that they voluntarily joined a union after independence, and that, under international law, they should (and do) have the right to abrogate that union, as they did in 1991. Examples abound in the second half of the twentieth century of international recognition of countries that have emerged from failed federations or failed states, including East Timor, Eritrea, Gambia, and the successor states of the former Soviet Union and Yugoslavia. The same legal principle should be applied to Somaliland.

The political basis for Somaliland’s claim is that the voluntary union of 1960 was derailed in 1969 by a military coup d’etat in Mogadishu that ushered in more than two decades of brutal military rule under the dictatorship of General Mohamed Siyaad Barre. Himself a southerner, Barre destroyed the foundations of the north-south democratic compact, most notably by unleashing a murderous campaign (bordering on genocide) against northern civilians that resulted in more than 50,000 deaths and created over 500,000 refugees as part of a widening civil war during the 1980s. Even after Barre was overthrown in 1991 by a coalition of guerrilla armies, including the northern-based Somali National Movement (SNM), northern expectations of a government of national unity were dashed when southern guerrilla movements reneged on an earlier agreement and unilaterally named a southerner president, which in turn was followed by the intensification of inter and intra-clan conflict in the south. Nearly thirty years of unfulfilled promises and brutal policies ripped the fabric of the already fragile north-south political compact. A “point of no return” had been reached for Somalilanders intent on reasserting their country’s independence. In May 2001, a popular mandate was given to dissolving the union, when a resounding number of ballots cast (97 percent) in a national Somaliland referendum favored the adoption of a new constitution that explicitly underscored Somaliland’s independence.

Somaliland deserves recognition if the Bush administration is truly sincere about promoting democracy in the wider Middle East. In sharp contrast to southern Somalia where instability and crisis have reigned and in fact intensified in the last fifteen years, Somaliland has established a democratic polity that, if recognized, would make it the envy of democracy activists in the Muslim world. The essence of Somaliland’s successful democratization was captured by U.S.-based International Republican Institute and the National Endowment for Democracy in convening a September 2006 panel discussion on Somaliland. They wrote that “Somaliland’s embrace of democracy, its persistence in holding round after round of elections, both winners and losers abiding by the rules, the involvement of the grassroots, the positive role of traditional authorities, the culture of negotiation and conflict resolution, the temperance of ethnicity or clan affiliation and its deployment for constructive purposes, the adaptation of modern technology, the conservative use of limited resources, and the support of the diaspora and the professional and intellectual classes are some of the more outstanding features of Somaliland’s political culture that are often sorely lacking elsewhere.”

Somaliland also deserves recognition from a purely U.S.-centric national security perspective. The Somaliland government and population embody a moderate voice in the Muslim world that rejects radical interpretations of Islam, including that espoused by various portions of the Council of Somali Islamic Courts (CSIC) currently in control of Mogadishu and its environs. It would serve as a bulwark against the further expansion of radical ideologies in the Horn of Africa by offering a shining example (along with Mali and Senegal and other predominantly Muslim Sub-Saharan African democracies) of how Islam and democracy are not mutually exclusive, but rather mutually reinforcing. Somaliland leaders are also eager to cooperate with the Bush administration in a variety of counter-terrorism measures, including working with the Combined Joint Task Force—Horn of Africa (CJTF-HOA) based in Djibouti. They are currently prohibited from doing so due to U.S. legislation that prevents cooperation with unrecognized Somaliland authorities.

The critiques of the pro-independence position are numerous, but don’t stand up to close examination. One strand of thought is that Somaliland is not economically viable. This position is reminiscent of claims made by Europeans during the 1950s with respect to their African colonies, with the aim of delaying independence throughout Africa. In any case, the argument is belied by Somaliland’s creation of a highly self-sufficient, well-functioning economy even though it has no access to the economic benefits that would come with statehood, such as access to loans from international financial institutions.

A second critique, typically offered by African policymakers, is that recognition of Somaliland will “open a pandora’s box” of secessionist claims throughout Africa. However, as in the case of Eritrea, which gained independence from Ethiopia in 1993, the Somaliland case does not call into question the African mantra of the “inviolability of frontiers” inherited at independence. The north-south union followed the independence and recognition of both the British and Italian Somali territories, and its dissolution therefore would constitute a unique case of returning to the boundaries inherited from the colonial era.

Others, especially those connected to UN efforts throughout the Horn of Africa, argue that recognition will derail the UN-sponsored “building blocks” approach to national reconciliation that includes the reconstitution of a central government in Mogadishu. This approach, however, has been an utter failure, as witnessed by the short-lived Transitional National Government (TNG) and its replacement by a Transitional Federal Government (TFG), the authority of which extends little beyond the town of Baidoa. What authority it has is largely due to the intervention of Ethiopian troops opposed to the further expansion of the Islamic Courts. It is time to recognize that the UN-sponsored “building blocks” cannot be stacked together to create a reunified central authority in Mogadishu.

A fourth critique claims that the “time is not right” for recognition because it will further intensify the widening crisis between the Islamic Courts and the TFG, and between their respective regional and international supporters. This argument has been heard repeatedly in the last fifteen years whenever efforts at reconstructing a unified central government were thought to be on the “verge of success.” Success has proved elusive over all this time, however, and it is now clear that southern Somalia will remain in crisis regardless of what is done with respect to Somaliland recognition. The most dire prediction of some Somali watchers is that the Islamic Courts movement will emerge victorious in the current conflict, assert its control over all Somali territories outside of Somaliland, and then threaten open warfare with Somaliland to bring it back into the Somali fold. If this should happen, it will likely be too late for the United States or others to intervene in a timely and effective manner to prevent Somaliland’s absorption into an Islamist Somalia. This reality makes recognition all the more urgent.

One of the more nuanced critiques of recognition is that loyalty to Somaliland in its eastern districts of Sanaag and Sool is contested, especially among the Warsengeli and Dhulbahante clans, and that any movement toward independence would potentially require the redrawing of Somaliland’s eastern boundary – which the leadership in Hargeisa (Somaliland’s capital) is unwilling to entertain. It is important to reiterate that Somaliland’s current boundaries are those of the original British Somaliland Protectorate created in 1884 and the independent country recognized by the international community beginning on June 26, 1960, and therefore have a solid legal basis under international law. The 2001 referendum provided an unequivocal popular basis for the independence claim. One way of resolving this issue, as was done with Eritrea in May 1993, would be to hold a territory-wide, UN-sponsored and internationally monitored popular referendum on independence that would be binding. If, as would be expected, pro-independence forces prevailed, those unwilling to live under Somaliland rule would have to make hard decisions about whether to continue living in Somaliland. .

A final critique involves the concept of “African solutions for African problems.” Proponents contend that the United States should wait for African countries led by the AU to first recognize Somaliland. This approach is the topic of a thought-provoking International Crisis Group report, “Somaliland: Time for African Union Leadership,” published in May 2006, and was publicly endorsed by Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs Jendayi Frazer in a presentation on November 17, 2006 at the annual meeting of the African Studies Association. Although Frazer’s statement that the United States would recognize Somaliland if the AU acted first was welcomed by specialists on Somaliland, it is unclear when or if a AU recognition process will actually unfold. The encouragement of African action should not become the basis for inaction on the part of the United States.

The time for U.S. recognition of Somaliland is now, not only because it is right, but because it is in the interests of the United States. Recognition of Somaliland, followed by expanded engagement by Somaliland with the international community, would serve as a powerful lesson for other countries within the region (not least of all southern Somalia) of the benefits associated with the creation and consolidation of democratic systems of governance. Somaliland would become a model to emulate, and the United States would be congratulated for undertaking a proactive policy in support of a moderate, Muslim democracy.

The writer is a professor in the Department of Political Science at Loyola University Chicago. He writes on African politics and U.S. Africa policy.

God's cool: Here's how India see her (sic)

India, they say, is a land of god-fearing people. That’s only partially true. An exclusive opinion poll conducted for The Times of India by TNS, a leading market research agency, shows that while three-fourths of Indians are strong believers, God is perceived by many more as a source of energy rather than someone to be feared.
Asked to respond to the statement, 'I think I fear God', only 41% said they completely agreed and another 33% said they mostly agreed. On the other hand, in response to the statement that 'God is a source of energy in my life', 56% completely agreed and a further 32% mostly agreed.
The survey, done across 10 cities with 1,007 respondents, shows Indians are not convinced that God is a micro-manager, that is, someone who controls our actions on a day to day basis. Rather, S/He is seen as the Creator — 91% feel God controls macro affairs like the rotation of the earth or the cycle of life and death. A significant 46% said S/He was an observer, not a controller.
Interestingly, the single largest chunk, 43%, said religion was a private affair compared to only 29% who saw it as a social affair and 28% who said it was both private and social. This might explain why a high 54% said they were against the broadcast of prayers, hymns or bhajans over loudspeakers.
In a finding that confirms anecdotal evidence, God is also seen as cool today. The number of people who said they are more religious now than they used to be was considerably larger than those who felt they had become less religious. The largest chunk, about 42%, said they were just as religious as in the past.
God is seen as responsive. A good 54% said God answers all prayers and another 41% said some prayers are answered. S/He is also seen by most believers as someone who loves both believers as well as non-believers.
Interestingly, while most people do not see God as having a specifically male or female form, views on how old God would be are more crystallised, although very evenly divided between those who think God is young and those whose conception is of a middle-aged or old Almighty.
For those who think belief in divine — and not just holy — texts is essentially confined to semitic faiths, here’s a revealing figure: 49% think the religious texts have been written either by God or by messengers of God, that is those who communicated directly with the Almighty.

COMING SOON.......

• Lies about Bush's war on terror,
• The day Bush went to bed with Osama,
• The truth about Cuban Exiles in Miami, Florida, U.S.A
• From Grace to Grass - the story of America's most loved religious figure

Kibaki vs. the Rest

The year 2007 will be a make or break for President Mwai Kibaki, assuming he is still contemplating of a second term in State House. As the country’s Chief Executive, his performance has been exemplary and he has shown he has what it takes to revive the economy, his life-time pet project.

Kibaki was elected on a National Rainbow Coalition (Narc) ticket. Initially he was the leader of Democratic Party (DP), then the Official Opposition in parliament.

However, Narc has undergone a metamorphosis of sorts since it dramatic ride to power after successfully dislodging Kanu Party that had ruled the country for a record 40 years.

One, all its previous partners have jumped ship to other parties or coalitions. According to the books of record, Narc boss is Health minister Charity Kaluki Ngilu who of late has been warming up to the opposition to the chagrin of Kibaki’s allies.

Attempts by Presidents men to dislodge her through grassroots elections for the last four years have never materialized, prompting them to form National Rainbow Coalition of Kenya (Narc-Kenya) allegedly to offer Kibaki, technically partyless at the moment, a safe landing.

In parliament, the President belongs to Narc and the Speaker of the National Assembly can only declare his seat vacant to pave way for a by-election after Kibaki’s party (Narc) has communicated to him (the Speaker) in writing that he has officially defected.

However, Kibaki has not yet declared on which party ticket he will vie, be it Narc, Narc-Kenya, or DP.

During this year’s by-elections in Nakuru, Kibaki openly campaigned for Narc-K candidate and son to the late Internal Security minister Mirugi Kariuki who together with 8 others perished in a helicopter crash while on duty in Marsabit, Northen Kenya. The young Mirugi went on to win the seat making Narc-Kenya a parliamentary party. The party also won two other seats in North Horr and Saku constituency.

Nearly every minister and assistant minister in Kibaki administration have openly identified with the new party whose current Chairman is the outspoken Trade and Industry minister Dr. Mukhisa Kituyi, a leading campaigner for Kibaki’s second term in office.

Orange Democratic Movement party of Kenya (ODM-Kenya) on the other hand comprises of influential politicians from across the country which makes its leaders brag that it’s the only party whose leadership reflects Kenya’s ethnic diversity – its national party, they say. It is a coalition of Kanu and LDP.

Its top brass comprises of former Cabinet ministers Raila Odinga, Kalonzo Musyoka, Uhuru Kenyatta, William Ruto, Musalia Mudavadi, Najib Balala, and William ole Ntimama all of whom except Ntimama have expressed their intention to vie for Presidency.

The seven represent some of the most fertile voting regions and all of them command a sizable popularity in their respective localities.

Raila, ODM-K de facto leader commands a cult-like support from his native Luo-Nyanza. His Langata constituency in Nairobi is predominately Luo-inhabited and has close to 2 million dwellers from the sprawling Kibera slums. Nyanza has a combined 1.6 million registered electorates who traditionally vote along with Raila.

Kalonzo Musyoka is seen by many as a moderate and has won admiration from major western countries, perhaps due to his diplomatic acumen as the Foreign Affairs minister at a time when Kenya was mediating in the highly-successful Sudan and Somalia peace talks.

Local opinion polls have on several occasions shown him leading though he now lies a distant second after the incumbent, Kibaki.

If Raila abandons his presidential ambitions and takes over his kingmaker role, his support will be crucial in determining who becomes the next president. Currently, Raila seems to enjoy a strong political relationship with Ruto and Musalia Mudavadi and there is a possibility that he may opt for the two in the duel for ODM-K since both commands the support of larger tribal vote than Kalonzo alone.

But with a recent opinion poll showing that no single candidate would win the presidential race, the pressure is on Kalonzo to either announce that he will stick to the ODM-K dream or start preparing for an early departure. But can he survive outside LDP? With some of his allies having formed a political party (National Rainbow Development Party), there has been a growing feeling that the Mwingi North Mp might jump ship if his chances dwindle within LDP, where all eyes are on Raila’s presidential bid.

His support is from Ukambani backyard which has 904,000 registered voters and a section of Rift Valley where he commands support from African Inland Church (AIC) – an influential church in the two regions – in which he belongs. He is seen as Raila’s top rival for ODM-K presidential ticket.

Rift Valley province is the country’s most fertile with 2.5 million votes for a grab. Kanu’s former Secretary-General William Ruto is leading ODM-K onslaught in the North Rift from which he managed to galvanize 1.2 million voters to reject the proposed draft constitution.

However, his duel with Moi may in the long run may spell a blessing or doom to ODM-K’s youngest aspirant. At 40, he excites great enthusiasm from many young Kenyans who feel let down by the old guards.

H e has the support from sitting Mps from the area but Moi and Biwott enjoy unquestionable grassroots support. How Ruto - a man who abandoned a Masters of Science in Zoology Degree course at University of Nairobi (UoN) to join politics in 1992 - turns parliamentary support into grassroots support is a matter of time, chance and skill.

His allies argue that he may not be a serious Presidential contender but rather his go for the seat would give them bargaining power in the next government.

His counterpart, Ntimama is traditionally the undisputed Maasai kingpin. His word, punctuated by cultural oaths and declaration, is indeed law and gospel truth as well. At the heart of Maasailand are more than 400,000 votes.

Uhuru’s destiny is pegged on whether or not Kibaki will be in the race. Though he has matured over the years since retired President Daniel Moi crafted him into the mainstream politics in early 1990’s, he excites little enthusiasm among his Central Kenya folks who accuse him of teaming up with the enemy to bring down “one of our own”. The Central Kenya vote standing at 1.6 million combined with an additional 800,000 Meru-Embu votes has traditionally been Kibaki’s for the taking since his hey days in the opposition.

During the Referendum, Uhuru was the only ODM-K luminary who never delivered a “No” vote as majority of his constituents sided with the President’s “yes” camp. Whatever side of divide he stands in; Uhuru is a man in limbo. Political observers say that Uhuru, the son of Kenya’s founding father, the Charismatic Mzee Jomo Kenyatta, will have to work round the clock to retain his Gatundu South seat.

He got it on his third attempt and now faces a stiff challenge from his popular cousin Ngengi Muigai who has publicly said plans to recapture the seat come 2007.

The continued good relationship between Moi and Kibaki is Uhuru’s biggest headache. One, the man who sole-handedly catapulted him from mere obscurity into national limelight in 2002 has turned into a back-stabber! Moi has shifted loyalty to Keiyo South Mp Nicholas Biwott, Uhuru’s fiercest rival in Kanu. The former President is said to have bank-rolled a recent delegates summit in Mombasa that ousted Uhuru and team from the party’s leadership.

Actually, the destiny of any serious presidential aspirant is pegged on the steps Kibaki, Moi and Raila will take ahead of 2007 polls.

Musalia Mudavadi, a son to the late wealthy and influential Cabinet minister Moses Mudavadi never excites much enthusiasm in the public, but he still remains the most-likely son of Western Kenya to ascend to the throne.

A close ally of Raila, Mudavadi could be ODM-K’s surprise party flag-bearer with Raila as running mate or the former by reason of age (46) would leave it for Raila who is aging (62) on the premise that he would take over after him. ODM-K, on the other hand, could settle for Mudavadi as a compromise candidate to avert looming fallout between Raila and Kalonzo over the party’s Presidential ticket.

He holds ODM-K vision of bugging-in over 1.5 million Western Kenya votes. The province is vast with 24 constituencies and thus would occupy a crucial place in the political calculus of anyone wishing to occupy State House.

Western Province could easily be neatly divided into two segments: the Northern part comprising the larger Kakamega District and the Southern comprising Bungoma district and parts of Busia. Traditionally, the Southern part is dominated by Musalia’s Maragori sub-tribe, while the Bukusu are predominantly in the Northern parts.

The rivalry between the two regions has ensured, over the years that the Luhya community does not vote as a bloc, which could mean the North would stick with their son, Musikari Kombo, the beleaguered Ford-Kenya boss while the South would give a thumbs stamp to Mudavadi. In the end, ODM-K would only bug-in half of the 1.5 million votes at stake.

With the stage set for a duel, most observers see the contest for Presidency come next year as a two-horse race between newly-formed Narc-Kenya and ODM-K.

Narc-K is somehow advantaged in that it is the incumbent, in the event Kibaki runs. ODM-K on the other hand is riding on its victory at the Referendum.

The Government side is smarting from several financial scandals that have occurred during the last four years. Its onslaught on corruption seems to have hit a snag with no single individual yet to be sentenced over graft despite great outcry form the public. This could be Kibaki’s undoing.

Ends…

Vatican announces bid to make Serie A

Malcolm Moore in Rome
December 20, 2006

A SENIOR Catholic cardinal has announced that the Vatican wants to put together a soccer team of priests capable of competing in Serie A, Italy's premier league. The team would play in the colours of the papal flag - yellow and white.
"The Vatican could, in future, field a team that plays at the top level, with Roma, Inter Milan, Genoa and Sampdoria," said Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, the Vatican's Secretary of State, the equivalent of its prime minister.
"We can recruit lads from the seminaries. I remember that in the World Cup of 1990 there were 42 players among the teams who made it to the finals who came from Salesian training centres all over the world.
"If we just take the Brazilian students from our Pontifical universities we could have a magnificent squad."
Giovanni Trapattoni, the former Italian national team manager, who is in charge of Salzburg FC, has been mooted as coach. In 2002 Trapattoni took bottles of holy water to the World Cup in Japan and South Korea to refresh the Italian team. But his side was knocked out in the second round.
Cardinal Bertone is a fervent Juventus fan and has in the past been a soccer commentator for a northern Italian television station. Pope John Paul II was a goalkeeper in his youth, while the current Pope received Pele during the last World Cup and paid a visit to the German team's training camp.
The cardinal said soccer could play an exemplary role in the lives of young people and soccer stadiums were an ideal spot for church recruitment.
The Vatican already has a little known soccer team mostly made up of Swiss Guards. Its only international fixture, against Monaco in 2002, ended in a 0-0 draw.
Cardinal Bertone has set up a league of 16 clubs to compete in a new championship for the Clericus Cup. The league will run from February to the end of June in Rome, and will have both group and knock-out stages. In 2008 it may expand across Italy- Telegraph, London

Nexus Radios link Oil Rig to Supply Vessel in Gulf of Thailand

Communicating with walkie-talkies between an oil rig in the Gulf of Thailand and a moving supply vessel moored to a buoy 0.12-0.2 miles (0.2-0.3 km) away proved to be unreliable and severely limiting for staff from Thailand’s largest oil producer. Staff on the oil rig had to be in constant touch with the staff on the vessel which is used for transport and supply but sometimes communications fail totally. So they asked Samart, a local system integrator, to design a new wireless solution that will allow staff on the vessel to communicate with the oil rig at all times as well as allow them access to the Internet via the oil rig’s satellite link.

A wireless link was needed to connect the supply vessel on the left with the oil rig, replacing the previous unreliable walkie-talkie method and also to allow staff on the vessel access to the Internet via the satellite link on the oil rig

Samart collaborated with smartBridges Channel Partner in Thailand, AMD (Advanced Mobile Data), a leading Value Added Distributor of Wireless Broadband Solutions in the Asia Pacific, in this unique deployment which sees smartBridges Nexus access point connecting to a client device on the moving vessel.

Marcus Lim, CEO, AMD, said, “We selected the smartBridges wireless products for this installation because smartBridges produces high end, easy-to-deploy, easy-to-use and cost-effective radios. We surveyed and designed the solution between the oil rig and vessel using the airPoint and airClient Nexus for the point-to-point configuration.”

X-maz Kisses - Just 4u

By Different Authors

1. "Kisses blown are kisses wasted, kisses are note kisses unless they are tasted, kisses spread germs and germs are hated, so kiss me baby, I'm vaccinated."

“Never thought that love could feel like this, u must be an angel!”

2. "If ever you think of me out of the blue, just remember it's all the kisses I've blown in the air finally catching up with you!"
3. "The sound of a kiss is much softer than that of a canon - but it's echo lasts a great deal longer."
4. "May our last kisses be many years from now and taste of one another's lips."
5. "If kissing was just two people touching lips, it wouldn't touch our hearts and bind our souls the way it does."
6. "I’ve kissed a guy... I’ve kissed guys. I just haven’t felt that thing.... That thing... that moment when you kiss someone and everything around you becomes hazy, and the only thing in focus is you and this person. And you realize that that person is the only person you’re supposed to kiss for the rest of your life. And for one moment you get this amazing gift. And you wanna laugh and you wanna cry, ‘cause you feel so lucky that you’ve found it, and so scared that it’ll go away all at the same time."
7. "Kisses blown are kisses wasted, kisses are note kisses unless they are tasted, kisses spread germs and germs are hated, so kiss me baby, I'm vaccinated."
8. "Never thought that love could feel like this and you changed my world with just one kiss, how can it be that right here with me there's an angel?"
9. "I was reborn when you first kissed me. Part of me died when you left me. But, now I still live, waiting for the day you return to me."
10. "I'd walk half way around the world for just one kiss from you."
11. "Kissing is like real estate. The most important thing is location, location, location."
12. I will be forever yours with just one kiss, setting my soul on fire with eternal bliss."
Submitted by Anonymous

12. "See there's this place in me where your fingerprints still rest, your kisses still linger, and your whispers softly echo. It's the place where a part of you will forever be a part of me."
13. "A friend is always good to have, but a lover's kiss is better than angels raining down on me."
14. "A legal kiss is never as good as a stolen one."
14. "Some women blush when they are kissed, some call for the police, some swear, some bite. But, the worst are those who laugh."
15. "Few men know how to kiss well. Fortunately, I've always had time to teach them."
16. "The best way to break the silence is with a kiss."
16. "A kiss is like a book, it can tell you a thousand words, but in order to under stand the true meaning of it you have to be willing to read between the lines."
17. "Kiss me once,
Kiss me twice,
I know it's silly,
But it's nice!"
18. "I can express no kinder sign of love, than this kind kiss."
19. LOVE, Your presence in my life brings wonderful smiles and loving thoughts within my heart.

20. "I have never loved, 'til I first met you."

Meeting you was fate, becoming your friend was a choice, falling in love with you was beyond my control!"

21. If it was love which made me fall for you...then I am still falling."
21. "Just when I thought that love could never be a part of me, that's when you came along and showed me happiness!"
22. "When I look into your eyes my heart starts racing and I see myself falling for you."
23. "Don't let doubts lose the magic of love, because it's not everyday you meet someone who has the magic to let you fall in love!"
24. "When you love someone, you want her to be proud of you. You want her to think that there's nothing in the world you're incapable of and the thought of disappointing her is crippling."
Ends…

Out-of-Beckham still the richest Footballer

D

avid Beckham, the husband to former Spice Girls celebrity Victoria Caroline Adams, is British richest football player with a personal fortune of £87m, a new poll has revealed.

Beckham, who turns out for Europe’s power house Real Madrid, wealth is almost three times that of the next richest player, his countryman and Newcastle striker Michael Owen, who is worth £32m.

Liverpool’s Robbie Fowler has amassed £28m, followed by former Gunners defender before moving to his current club Portsmouth Sol Campbell (£27m), Manchester United’s Rio Ferdinand and his clubmate Ryan Giggs and Chelsea’s and Ukraine’s best striker of his generation Andriy Shevchenko (all £22m).

Russian billionaire and Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich is comfortably the richest investor in British football, with a fortune of £10.8bn.

With his enormous wealth, Abramovich is now rated the second richest man in the Britain, behind steel magnate Lakshmi Mittal, worth an estimated £13.2bn. Abramovich is thought to have ploughed around £440m into Chelsea. He is followed by Spurs’ stakeholder Joe Lewis (£2.1bn) and Celtic shareholder Dermot Desmond (£1.25bn), according to the survey in FourFourTwo magazine.

Beckham, the former England Captain, earns £4.4m per season at Real Madrid and has a number of lucrative sponsorship deals that earned him £19m last year.

Sports observers say that temperamental Red Devils striker and England international Wayne Rooney and his fiancée Coleen McLoughlin could threaten the Beckhams in future years, with their fortune up to £20m from £6m last season.

Below is the list of top ten richest footballers and Investors:

FOOTBALL'S RICH LIST

David Beckham £87m

Michael Owen £32m

Robbie Fowler £28m

Sol Campbell £27m

Rio Ferdinand £22m

Ryan Giggs £22m

Andriy Shevchenko £22m

Thierry Henry £21m

Wayne Rooney £20m

Michael Ballack £18m

FOOTBALL'S TOP INVESTORS

R Abramovich (Chelsea) £10.8bn

J Lewis (Spurs) £2.1bn

D Desmond (Celtic) £1.25bn

M Glazer (Man Utd) £1.05bn

T Hemmings (Ch'ton, Preston) £900m

Sir A Sugar (Spurs) £790m

R Lerner (Villa) £789m

D Murray (Rangers) £650m

S Keswick, family (Cheltenham) £644m

D Sullivan (Birmingham) £595m

Ends…

This Month in History

We are in December, the last month of 2006

1 1960 Patrice Lumumba caught in the Congo

2 1804 Napoleon Bonaparte crowned 1st emperor of France in Paris by Pope Pius VII

3 1984 Oldest groom - Harry Stevens, 103, weds Thelma Lucas, 83, in Wisconsin

4 1843 Manila paper (made from sails, canvas & rope) patented, Massachusetts

5 1349 500 Jews are massacred at Nüremberg in Black Death riots

6 1956 Nelson Mandela & 156 others arrested for political activities in South Africa

December, 7 1965 The Roman Catholic and Greek Orthodox churches formally reconciled themselves by reversing a mutual excommunication of each other, dating back (over 900 years!) to July 1054.

8 1993 30 killed at religious rebellion in Algeria

9 1994 Kim II Sung President of North Korea (1945-94), dies at 82

10 1901 1st Nobel Peace Prizes (to Jean Henri Dunant, Frederic Passy)

11 1909 Colored moving pictures demonstrated at Madison Square Garden, New York NY

12 1800 Washington DC established as capital of US

13 1988 Yasser Arafat addresses UN in Geneva

14 1981 The modern nation of Israel formally annexed the Golan Heights, which had been captured from Syria during the 1967 War

15 1970 South Korean ferry Namyong-Ho sinks in Strait of Korea, 308 killed

16 1631 Mount Vesuvius, Italy erupts, destroys 6 villages & kills 4,000

17 1917 Confiscation of the property of the Russian Orthodox Church and abolition of religious instruction in schools was announced by the Bolshevik government

18 1972 US begins its heaviest bombing of North Vietnam

19 1884 Italy recognizes King Leopold II's Congo Free State

20 1999 Portugal returns Macau to China

21 1804 Benjamin Disraeli (Tory) British PM (1868, 1874-80) is born

22 1989 After 23 years of dictatorial rule, Romania ousts Nicolae Ceausescu

23 1950 Pope Pius XII declared that the tomb of St. Peter had been discovered beneath St. Peter's Basilica in Rome.

24 1993 Norman Vincent Peale (Author of the Power of Positive Thinking), dies at 95

25 0004 -BC- Jesus of Nazareth religious leader/philosopher is born

26 1890 King Mwanga of Uganda signs contract with East Africa Company

27 1983 Pope John Paul II pardons man who shot him (Mehmet Ali Agca)

28 1976 Winnie Mandela banished in South Africa

29 1891 Edison patents "transmission of signals electrically" (radio)

30 1975 Tiger Woods, world No.1 golfer is born

31 1946 US President Harry Truman officially proclaims end of WWII

Ends…