Saturday, August 01, 2009

The Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was reached between the two coastal states in accordance with a requirement by the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).

UNCLOS demands the provision of non-objection with respect to the two neighbors' respective presentation submissions to the UN Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf because the preparation of a country's claim for submission requires the cooperation of its neighbors.

After two days of heated debate, Somali lawmakers voted overwhelmingly against the MoU between the two countries which would allow the extension of the two coastal states' continental shelf.

"347 deputies attended the session. 334 voted against the motion, four deputies requested postponement of the vote while nine parliament members asked for the setting up of a committee for the issue," Somali parliament speaker Sheikh Adan Madobe said after the vote. "Therefore, the Somali parliament rejected the maritime Memorandum of Understanding between Kenya and Somalia."

The Transitional Somali government is battling a deadly insurgence against Islamist rebels who wage a near daily attacks on its troops and African Union peacekeepers in Mogadishu. Most of the lawmakers said that the agreement "compromises the sovereignty and the territorial integrity" of the war-torn horn of Africa country.

"We are happy that the vote has taken place as we wanted and it is a victory for the Somali people. I congratulate Somali parliamentarians for showing patriotism," Mohamed Qanyare Afrah, a Somali MP, told Xinhua after the end of the vote.

Since the agreement was signed back in April, controversy over the maritime deal has been growing culminating in its rejection by Somali parliament.

It is not clear what the next step for Somali government is now that its parliament scrapped an agreement it entered with one of the countries that strongly support it and has been instrumental in its establishment back in 2004.

Source: Xinhua, Aug 01, 2009

saba @ 8/4/2009 2:35 PM EST   I am not going to bother myself to ask how DUE PROCESS of such vote will go on.  I am not going to ask as to who will recall the MOU and will declare it NULL and VOID to the Kenyans, mind you all that Kenya has already submited the agreement to U.N. I am not going to bother myself to ask those questions because i found an intriguing subject... the DEAR QANYARE is back, he sees an opportunity and HE TAKES IT, why not QAN-ka, every body is a volchour in Somalia and if you are the BEST, i have nothing but an "admiration" for you. Darwenians would have prefered you, as you are the FITTEST. Did anyone else noticed that Qanyare gave an interview to XINHUA, quite a peculier pick,huh!!. Why is that Qan-ka?. Do you smell an opportunity there? Somalis don't appreciate territorial waters, we know that, we read comments of commentators on this same subject previously calling the whole transfer as a MISTAKE!!.  Yes, a mere mistake by Sharif side,just like puffing a cigeret fume to his secretary's face. A MISTAKE, that is how most commentators described it. But Dear Qanyare knows that Geel jire has no appreciation to seas and ground it is sitting on. Dear Qanyare knows WELL who appreciates and ENDEARS it, and that is..  CHINA, Voila!!. The CIA doesn't pay much these days , why should they when they have Shariifs and Janaqaws themselves; who needs Qanyare any more? Who needs him? GUOJIA ANQUAN BU, that is who.

saba @ 8/4/2009 5:53 AM EST  My comment was blocked, will try a modified one later.

fiqicigaal @ 8/3/2009 4:10 AM EST  That was one h*ll of a vote to defend ones territory. I hope these folks fully understand what this Memorandum of Understanding is all about.

Gacaliye@ @ 8/2/2009 1:20 AM EST  Abdi_2008, thanks bro for the link about this QARAN-WASE called Qanyare.  Without the brutal bl*od-su*king bast**ds like Qanyare, we wouldn't have today's masked mindless mu*dering machines like Al-shabab/Habab or Hisbul Nijaas and their bearded Pashtun bast**ds on Somali soil today.

Abdi_2008 @ 8/1/2009 8:59 PM EST  These despicable so called "parliamentarians" specially Qanyare are a JOKE! they want to act like they're "patriots" when they are responsible for the destruction of our beloved homeland. On an interview with Slate.com titled 'America's Warlord' Qanyare had even bragged about bring the CIA into Somalia. http://www.slate.com/id/2197706/entry/2197708/ These traitors who use foreigners inorder to stay in "power" regardless it be from the West or from Wahabis should be brought to justice at all cost!