Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

Politics : Liberalism: Do You Agree We've Had Enough of It? -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: MJ who wrote (70155)	8/9/2009 6:54:49 AM
From: lorne	1 Recommendation Respond to of 224718

Obama’s uncle lands in Dublin to watch Arab friend compete By Sam Smyth Friday, 7 August 2009 belfasttelegraph.co.uk There was no fanfare, no fussy entourage, and few noticed the discreet security when Said Obama touched down in Dublin last night. The Kenyan uncle of the US president had never visited Ireland before, but he now intends to become a regular visitor and has got the use of a summer home in Co Louth. The ‘First Uncle' is due to have lunch today with his host, Sheikh Samir Mirdad, before attending the Dublin Horse Show. “I'm really looking forward to the horse show, I'm told it is the oldest and the best in the world. We have horses in Kenya but they are not for the ordinary people.” “I am so glad to be here. I have met many Irish people who have visited my home village of Kongelo since Barack was elected president of the United States,” he said after a long flight from Nairobi. “I am looking forward to seeing Sheikh Samir competing in the horse show and then relaxing for a few days by the sea,” he added. An elegant man five years younger than his nephew, Mr Obama is here to relax for a few days and to talk about the Sarah Hussein Obama Trust of which he is chairman. Mama Sarah is Said's mother and Barack's grandmother — they are the president's closest blood relatives in Africa. They travelled to Washington together for the inauguration in January and the family trust was launched at the end of May. Multi-national companies offered millions for Mr Obama to be their spokesman but he turned them all down to concentrate on the trust. “The trust was founded after Barack became president and we want to restore the family home in Kongelo where his family lived and Barack stayed, and we want to help the poor people of not just my country but other countries,” he said. “Sheikh Samir suggested I come to Ireland for my first overseas trip as chairman of the trust and now he has offered me his home by the sea in Co Louth every year when I visit the Dublin Horse Show.” Sheikh Mirdad is also introducing Mr Obama to philanthropists and the royal families in the Middle East (he is related to most of them) and Europe to raise funds for the trust. Mr Obama (43) lives in the village of Kongelo on the shores of Lake Victoria with his wife Ome and his daughter Fatima (3). He is the brother of the US president's late father, Barack Hussein Obama who died in a car accident in 1982. He lived with Mama Sarah in the little yellow house with the corrugated tin roof in Kongelo that was seen on television during last year's US election campaign, although the Obama family home had no television, no electricity nor running water. “I have a television now since I moved to another house in Kongelo with my wife and daughter but Mama Sarah is still in the old family home,” he said. “And since Barack's election, and the thousands of visitors who have visited since, the government has brought us electricity and running water. “Barack first visited us in Kongelo in 1987, I think he was 25 at the time and had just graduated and I took him to where his father was buried,” he said. Mr Obama's visit was arranged by his friend Sheikh Samir Mirdad, a Saudi-born businessman who lived in Dublin as a child while his father attended the College of Surgeons and went on to become personal physician to the Crown Prince. Although he is related to many of the royal families of the Middle East and brokered deals worth billions there, Sheikh Mirdad fell in love with showjumping and gave up months from his business to concentrate on winning a place in today's competition. He bought his home in Annagassan, one of three residences he owns in Ireland, on April 1 and yesterday builders were working around the clock for it to be ready when he brings Said Obama there on Sunday. “Everybody is panicking about Said's visit, the builders are working flat out to get it finished on time. I love this house, it is by the sea and I want my friend Said to have it as his summer home so he can visit the Horse Show in Dublin every August,” Sheik Mirdad said.