From: barnhart@ddsw1.MCS.COM (Mr. Aaron Barnhart)
Subject: IPS:SOMALIA: WARLORDS EXPECTED TO MEET AFTER YEAR OF BLOODSHED
Date: Sat, 19 Dec 1992 17:47:39 GMT
Organization: Evanston, Illinois, U.S.A.

Copyright Inter Press Service 1992, all rights reserved.  Permission to re-
print within 7 days of original date only with permission from 'newsdesk'.

Area: Africa, east
Reference: North America
Title: SOMALIA: WARLORDS EXPECTED TO MEET AFTER YEAR OF BLOODSHED


nairobi, dec 11 (ips/horace awori) -- the somali warlords,
general mohamed farah aideed and his rival interim president ali
mahdi are expected to meet face-to-face friday for the first
time after more than a year of bloodshed.

the u.s. embassy here confirmed a report received by ips that
general aideed had issued a press release in mogadishu saying
he and his rival had accepted an invitation from u.s. ambassador
to somalia, robert oakley, to meet at the embassy.

the two warlords accepted the invitation for a meeting, the
first in over a year between the two former allies whose contest
for power in the capital mogadishu begun last november has
shattered the horn of africa country.

aideed and ali mahdi belong to the united somali congress
that ousted dictator siad barre from the city in january 1991.
but mogadishu-based ali mahdi declared himself interim
president days after barre was driven out by aideed's forces.
tension between the two mounted, and 11-months later fighting
erupted that left 30,000 people dead.

in the bloody fueding, mogadishu was divided into north and
south controled by the sub-clans of the two warlords battling to
fill the vacuum left by barre.

millions of people were displaced and when drought hit the
arid country, the tragedy reached horrifying proportions. the
complete collapse of the state and infrastructure compounded
the problems of a nation drowning in anarchy and made the work
of the relief agencies a nightmare.

general aideed complains that ali mahdi rather than waiting
for a meeting of all the fighting fronts, which would have agreed
on a government of national unity, declared himself interim
president. among his sub-clan, which bore the brunt of the
fighting in the central region, there is contempt for ali
mahdi's urban-based followers who won the spoils of the war.

but ali mahdi has always countered that it was precisely
at such a meeting of the clans in djibouti in june that he was
confirmed interim president. observers point out that the
djibouti meeting was not properly convened -- aideed was abscent
-- and was manipulated by the former colonial power italy and
egyptian mediators in favour of ali mahdi.

peace attempts by former u.n. representatives james jonah and
mohamed sahnoun led to a ceasefire in april this year which was
frequently broken. substantative talks between the two have not
been held because until september aideed had ruled out any
meeting with ali mahdi unless he renounced his presidency.
(more/ips)


somalia: warlords (2)

''if the friday meeting takes place and leads to some
accommodation it would be the best end of year gift to the
somalis'', said a u.n. office for somalia (umosm) official here
who declined to be named.

he said it would be a result of the u.s.-led international
force that is gradually securing parts of mogadishu before it
fans out to the rest of the country to unclog the food
distributribution network to allow supplies to reach an
estimated one million starving people.

according to relief agencies, about 1,000 somalis have been
dying daily since relief agency operations were halted a month
ago due to the insecurity.

passing through nairobi thursday evening on his way to
somalia, the u.s. assistant secretary of state, herman cohen,
said the u.s. deployment of 35,000 troops was not the solution
to the somali problem.

''but'', he told ips, ''for the first time we have got
somalis talking to each other instead of shooting each other.''

cohen did not elaborate on this but sources indicated he
will participate in the aideed-ali mahdi meeting friday.  although
cohen called on kenya and other countries in the region to help
initiate peace in somalia, this is not taken seriously.

nairobi is believed to be supporting the remnants of barre's
forces in south-western somalia along the kenyan border.

the capture of berdhera in western somalia in october by
barre's son-in-law, general mohamed morgan, followed the
mysterious flight of a kenyan helicopter to the area.

the helicopter was forced down by aideed's men and kenya
claimed that it had simply strayed into somalia. but after the
fall of berdhera, the helicopter was returned to kenya.
(end/ips/ha/oa/92)
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