From: antbh@strix.udac.uu.se (Bernhard Helander)
Newsgroups: soc.culture.african
Subject: Somalia News Update, No 36
Date: 16 Nov 92 14:32:32 GMT
Organization: Uppsala University
NNTP-Posting-Host: strix.udac.uu.se

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               S O M A L I A  N E W S  U P D A T E

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No 36                November 16, 1992.               ISSN 1103-1999

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Somalia News Update is published irregularly via electronic mail and 
fax. Questions can be directed to antbh@strix.udac.uu.se or to fax 
number +46-18-151160. All material is free to quote as long as the 
source is stated.
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In this issue:   SOMALI REFUGEES TRICKLE BACK TO REBUILD LIFE
                 MALARIA EPIDEMIC HITS THE OGADEN
                 JAPAN CONSIDERING NEW AID FOR SOMALIA
                 PENTAGON-SOMALIA
                 SOMALIA - FARMING
                 U.N. TROOPS CONTROL MOGADISHU AIRPORT
                 U.N. APPEALS FOR FUNDING OF SOMALIA RELIEF PLAN
                 U.S. SENATORS URGE MORE U.N. TROOPS FOR SOMALIA
                 FAO CHIEF SLAMS RESPONSE TO CRISIS IN SOMALIA


Acknowledgement:
News wires from AP and Reuter have been kindly forwarded by Jim 
Rosenfield <jnr@igc.apc.org> 


                 SOMALI REFUGEES TRICKLE BACK TO REBUILD LIFE

    By Andrew Hill 

   MELKAHARI, Somalia, Nov 12, Reuter - Eighteen-year-old Somali 
Shinde Mahat Aden drew a circle in the dust and pounded an iron bar 
into the ground on Thursday to lay the foundations of a new life. 
   She squatted beside a thorn bush and gouged out holes in the dirt 
in which to plant the branches of a new twig hut for herself, her 
husband and two small children. 
   She was one of 184 Somali families who went home on Thursday from 
regimented rows of refugee huts in Kenya to rebuild lives torn apart 
by Somalia's two-year civil war and famine. 
   "I am coming back to my village and settling again. But it will 
take two years to get things back to normal," she told reporters as 
she dug the ground under the fierce morning sun. 
   The village, little more than one gutted concrete building looted 
by gunmen in fighting this year, is home to about 6,000 farming 
families on the banks of the Dawa river. 
   But 80 per cent of its people fled to Kenya when warlord Mohamed 
Farah Aideed captured the area earlier this year to drive President 
Mohamed Siad Barre's forces from Somalia. 
   The plan is part of United Nations attempts to ease the refugee 
burden of Kenya, which has had to absorb about half a million Somalis 
since their homeland collapsed after the clan war that toppled Siad 
Barre in January 1991. 
   About 55,000 refugees live in Mandera, the single biggest 
settlement in Kenya, and their daily life is waiting for food 
handouts or visiting a clinic -- there is nothing else to do. 
   Kenyan authorities say the burden is too much because the country 
has been forced to appeal for food aid for the first time in a decade 
because of a withering drought. 
   As elsewhere in Somalia, every valuable object from rooftops to 
water pumps was looted in the fighting around Melkahari and refugees 
in Mandera are still prey to marauding bands of gunmen who steal 
their food rations, clothes and few valuables. 
   But by Somalia's bizarre standards, Melkahari is a peaceful place 
and the fields around it are turning green with newly planted 
sorghum, beans and irrigation schemes. 
   There are no gunmen or warring clans and the nearest fighting is 
hundreds of km (miles) away to the south. 
   "We want to help ourselves and to stop being spoonfed," said Ali 
Mohamed, one of a handful of farmers who have crossed back in recent 
weeks to plant a few seeds. 
   But their families are destitute and have been given the basic 
implements of subsistence -- cooking pots, plastic buckets and sheets 
and water cans under a $13 million scheme by the U.N. High 
Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). 
   The first 150 families crossed back last month and Thursday's 
returnees were the second stage of a plan to send 1,258 volunteer 
families home. 
   "It's so beautiful and encouraging to see," said television script 
writer Stephanie Liss, one of a group of seven Hollywood writers 
touring the region as U.N. guests to publicise the crisis. 
   Rick Austin of the Irish agency Trocaire -- the word means 
compassion in Gaelic -- is helping the U.N. carry out the plan and 
beams at the paw paws and peppers already being harvested. 
   "The farming potential here is absolutely incredible," he said. 
"But 80 per cent of the farmers have nothing. It was all looted. 
We're here to get it all going again." 
   <<>>



                 MALARIA EPIDEMIC HITS THE OGADEN

    ADDIS ABABA, Nov 12, Reuter - Ethiopia's eastern Ogaden region, 
already devastated by drought and famine, has now been hit by a 
malaria epidemic which is killing at least 14 people a day, the 
Ethiopian News Agency (ENA) reported on Thursday. 
   Hundreds of sufferers have swamped makeshift clinics in the 
region, one of the poorest places on earth, Regional health director 
Aklilou Menyilshoa Said was quoted as saying. 
   ENA quoted him as saying treatment was hampered by a shortage of 
medicine, transport facilities and clean sanitary conditions pose 
serious problems. 
   The furnace-hot Ogaden desert is overflowing with more than a 
million refugees fleeing conflict in Ethiopia and Somalia. 
   <<>>


                 JAPAN CONSIDERING NEW AID FOR SOMALIA

    TOKYO, Nov 11, Reuter - Japan is considering fresh measures to 
help famine-hit Somalia, a senior government spokesman said on 
Wednesday. 
   Chief Cabinet Secretary Koichi Kato told reporters that Tokyo was 
considering chartering civilian aircraft to help food supplies reach 
starving millions in Somalia. 
   Commenting on a newspaper report that Washington had asked Tokyo 
to send its Self-Defence Forces (SDF) transport aircraft, Kato said 
the United States had made a general appeal for Japan's cooperation 
but that Tokyo did not regard it as a specific request for a 
transport plane. 
   Kato said it was impossible to send Japan's SDF to a war-torn 
country unless a ceasefire agreement is reached -- one of the 
conditions specified in the United Nations Peace-keeping Cooperation 
Law approved by parliament earlier this year. 
   After enacting the law, Japan sent 600 troops abroad for the first 
time since World War Two to back up the U.N. Transitional Authority 
in Cambodia (UNTAC). 
   Three months after Somalia's famine hit the headlines and 
triggered Africa's biggest relief operation since the Ethiopian 
famine of the mid-1980s, hundreds of women and children are still 
dying each day. 
   Japan has pledged a total $15 million of assistance through U.N.-
led aid programmes in Somalia. 
   <<>>

                 PENTAGON-SOMALIA

   Copyright, 1992. The Associated Press. All rights reserved.  

   WASHINGTON (AP) -- Brig. Gen. Frank Libutti will turn the command 
of the Pentagon's humanitarian relief operation in east Africa over 
to Brig. Gen. Paul Fratarangelo on Wednesday. 
   The change-of-command ceremony for the Marine generals will take 
place at the headquarters of the relief operation's joint task force 
at Moi International Airport in Mombasa, Kenya, the Pentagon 
announcement said.
    Libutti will return to MacDill Air Force Base in Florida to 
resume his duties as Inspector General of the U.S. Central Command 
and the commander of its forward headquarters element, the 
announcement said. 
   He arrived in Mombasa on Aug. 17. Under his command, more than 
13,000 metric tons of food and other relief supplies have been 
delivered to northern Kenya and famine-stricken Somalia. 
   Fratarangelo, a native of Corning, N.Y., has most recently served 
as the deputy commanding general of the First Marine Expeditionary 
Force at Camp Pendleton, Calif, the announcement said. 
   <<>>

                 SOMALIA - FARMING

   Copyright, 1992. The Associated Press. All rights reserved.  
   By G.G. LaBELLE 
   Associated Press Writer 

   MERCA, Somalia (AP) -- On Merca's chaotic main street -- among the 
centers for malnourished children, the donkeys hauling water and the 
charity kitchens -- there is a tiny sign of hope. 
   Farmers in this coastal corner of famine-ridden Somalia are 
selling a small crop of tomatoes, grapefruit, mangos and coconuts. 
   The local produce market is beginning to revive. 
   Marc Aubert, International Red Cross representative in Merca, says 
small farmers are augmenting food donations in helping the region 
gain against hunger.
   "We had help from the local harvest. It was limited but still 
quite good," he said. 
   The agencies realize the world cannot feed Somalia forever. They 
have been handing out seeds and tools to revive agriculture and keep 
aid from becoming an addiction. 
   "People have got to grow their own food," said Rhodri Wynn-Pope, 
team leader in Somalia for the international aid agency CARE. 
   Wynn-Pope and other relief officials talk of the need for "aid 
infrastructure" if they are to overcome the famine that has killed 
more than 100,000 Somalis. 
   In Merca, 100 miles south of the capital Mogadishu, the aid setup 
works this way: Centers treat severely malnourished children; 
kitchens serve rice, beans and oil to the general population and the 
Red Cross and British agency Oxfam donate seeds and tools to farmers 
in the surrounding area. 
   The Red Cross alone has given out nearly 45 tons of seeds in the 
region. Nationwide it has handed out 430 tons of seeds, mainly 
sorghum, rice and high protein beans, along with 18,000 hoes, picks 
and shovels. 
   The problems are formidable. The area between the Shebele and Juba 
rivers, once Somalia's breadbasket, was devastated in the clan 
warfare that has raged over the past two years. 
   Marauding militiamen have looted the stored grain of farmers, 
driving them off their land to charity kitchens in towns and cities. 
Raiders have stolen farm equipment that would allow people to begin 
planting and harvesting again. 
   The most immediate problem is getting the farmers back to their 
fields. More important, they must stay there. 
   Farmers must get seeds and also food to sustain them while they 
till their land. Otherwise, they may flee back to the towns, or even 
eat the seeds instead of planting them. 
   In western Somalia, CARE gave 96 tons of sorghum seed to rural 
areas around Bardera and was trucking food to 186 villages. But then 
Bardera changed hands in a clan warfare. Relief workers were 
evacuated. Food aid was cut off to surrounding areas. 
   Three weeks later, CARE officials still do not know what happened 
in most of the villages. 
   Phoebe Fraser, who oversees the seed program, exulted when she saw 
"little green sprouts of sorghum" in some villages, but fears hungry 
farmers may eat the sprouts before they ripen into grain. 
   Damage inflicted on farms is a major problem in reviving food 
production. 
   Near Afgoi, 18 miles west of Mogadishu, Salah Ahmed Ali sat among 
grapefruit trees in an orchard owned and worked by several families. 
   The 52-year-old farmer complained he was having trouble watering 
the trees. 
   Looters took the pumps needed to bring the water from the canals. 
   Now, the tractor plowing irrigation furrows in Ali's orchard bore 
not only a driver but two guards with assault rifles. 
   Heather Danton, 34, of the American branch of Save the Children 
said the agency faces similar problems in the Koreoli district in 
trying to restore part of the vast canal system that irrigated farms 
southwest of Merca. 
   "All the sluice gates were destroyed or looted," she said. 
   Her agency is digging out one of the region's 16 main canals, 
which have silted up from lack of care. It is about 8.5 miles long 
and nearly four miles have been opened. 
   Ms. Danton, from Mansfield, Mass., said the work was financed by a 
$5,000 U.S. government grant. But the agency is running low on money 
and suffers because so much equipment has been looted. 
   And she added, "I have fears if a great amount of food is 
produced, it will attract looters." 
   But looking at the cleared section of the canal makes potential 
troubles fade. 
   "You see people out working in the fields, and the maize is waist 
high," she said. 
   <<>>


                 U.N. TROOPS CONTROL MOGADISHU AIRPORT

    By Jonathan Clayton 
   NAIROBI, Nov 10, Reuter - Armed U.N. troops finally took control 
of Mogadishu international airport on Tuesday more than six weeks 
after first arriving in famine-hit Somalia to ensure food supplies 
reached starving millions. 
   U.N. officials said a 500-strong contingent of Pakistani Blue 
Helmets secured the main runway, all buildings and posted guards 
around the perimeter after reaching a deal with the Hawadle clan 
which controls the lucrative airport trade. 
   "As of now, there are no armed people -- other than U.N. troops -- 
within the airport," said Ian Macleod of the United Nations 
Children's Fund (UNICEF). 
   The deployment of the troops, some of whom first arrived in the 
country in mid-September with orders to protect food from looting 
gunmen, was delayed following threats by Mogadishu warlords who 
control the bombed-out capital. 
   "This is good news...they (the troops) were beginning to get 
really fed up. They had a job to do and were not being allowed to do 
it," said a senior U.N. source. 
   Since arriving with a mandate to secure the airport and port and 
escort food convoys to distribution centres, the troops have been 
confined to a makeshift camp at one end of the airport. 
   But U.N. sources said there was still no agreement on deploying at 
the port -- crucial if a major famine relief drive is to be 
successful -- nor on escorting food convoys to people dying of 
hunger, sometimes only a few minutes' drive away. 
   Three months after Somalia's famine hit the headlines and 
triggered Africa's biggest relief operation since the Ethiopian 
famine of the mid-1980s, hundreds of women and children are still 
dying each day. 
   Aid workers say the appalling security situation in a country 
carved up between clan gunmen is the major hurdle preventing help 
reaching those in need. Some two-thirds of the population of seven 
million are at risk.
    "General" Mohamed Farah Aideed, one of the country's fiercest 
warlords, recently warned of "unprecedented bloodshed" if U.N. troops 
took up position without his agreement. 
   Aideed controls most of the south of the divided capital, but his 
relations with the Hawadle clan deteriorated sharply last month after 
its fighters barred him from entering the airport to greet Irish 
President Mary Robinson. 
   The Hawadle also control a part of the port, carved up between 
several clans. They feared Aideed would try and take full control of 
both the key installations ahead of any U.N. deployment. 
   Armed clan-based gangs, loosely controlled by rival warlords, run 
protection rackets throughout the ruined city. 
   At the airport, the Hawadle charge landing fees of between $200 
and $1,000 for all aircraft -- including aid flights -- and levy an 
airport tax on all users. 
   Tuesday's deal in no way changed that arrangement, U.N. sources 
said. 
   "The Hawadle continue to run the airport as before and make money. 
They just keep the gunmen outside...It's a good deal for them. Even 
Aideed is unlikely to try and take it now," one expert on Somalia 
said. 
   REUTER JMC NJP  <<>>


                 U.N. APPEALS FOR FUNDING OF SOMALIA RELIEF PLAN

    ADDIS ABABA, Nov 10, Reuter - A top United Nations official urged 
the international community on Tuesday to speed up funding of a 100-
day emergency U.N. plan to ease Somalia's famine. 
   "Unless the world community becomes compassionate and speeds up 
assistance to the U.N. sponsored emergency plan of action, the 
sufferings in Somalia could develop into the worst catastrophe in 
living memory," Samule Nana-Sinkam, U.N. coordinator of the scheme, 
told Reuters. 
   He said a conference in Addis Ababa, set to open on November 30, 
will focus on the implementation of a pledge made in Geneva last 
month to give up to $88 million for the plan which aims at providing 
food aid and expanding supplementary feeding schemes. 
   "Unless all those concerned consider the Somalia crisis as a 
priority, up to 250,000 people, whose lives could have been saved, 
may die before the end of the year," Nana-Sinkam added. 
   He said the action plan also provided for a mass immunisation 
campaign against measles and other diseases and an urgent supply of 
clean water and shelter materials. 
   He said the conference would also discuss how to best ensure aid 
supplies are not looted by rival warlords who have almost barred food 
aid from reaching the people. 
   Somalia's warlord "General" Mohamed Farah Aideed has prevented the 
deployment of some of the U.N. troops sent to protect the relief 
operation and has warned of "unprecedented bloodshed" if they take up 
positions without his "permission." 
   More than 300,000 people may have died in famine that started 
after clan rebels ousted dictator Mohamed Siad Barre in January 1991 
and the country spiralled into chaos. An estimated 1.5 million 
Somalis are in danger of starvation. 
   REUTER BDM RFS  <<>>    


                 U.S. SENATORS URGE MORE U.N. TROOPS FOR SOMALIA

    WASHINGTON, Nov 9, Reuter - Two senior U.S. senators on Monday 
said more United Nations troops were needed in Somalia to protect 
food and other supplies sent there by other nations to avert 
starvation. 
   "I believe more armed security is needed," said Senator Nancy 
Kassebaum, a Kansas Republican who recently visited Somalia. 
   "I concur with my colleague," Senator Paul Simon, an Illinois 
Democrat, added at the news conference where the two senators were 
joined by actress-model Iman who was born in Somalia. 
   Simon said he and Senator Howard Metzenbaum, an Ohio Democrat, 
would leave for Somalia on Wednesday to inspect the situation. 
   Relief efforts in Somalia have been hampered by disputes among 
rival warlords and death threats to aid workers. The 500 Pakistani 
U.N. troops sent to protect the operation are virtually confined to 
their barracks at the Mogadishu airport. 
   Iman showed a film she made with the British Broadcasting 
Corporation during a visit to her homeland showing the devastation 
and famine since dictator Mohamed Siad Barre was overthrown in 
January, 1991 and fighting began between factions. 
   <<>>

                 FAO CHIEF SLAMS RESPONSE TO CRISIS IN SOMALIA

   ROME, Nov 9, Reuter - The director-general of the UN Food and 
Agriculture Organisation (FAO) on Monday slammed the international 
community for its slow response to the plight of the starving in 
Somalia. 
   "For almost two years, we have kept calling for immediate action 
from the international community (in Somalia)," said FAO director-
general Edouard Saouma.
   More than 4.5 million people are hungry in the war-torn African 
country and some two million risk starving to death. 
   Saouma, speaking at the opening of the FAO Council, recommended an 
increase in food supplies kept in reserve for emergencies. 
   He added stocks should be pre-positioned either in the countries 
at risk or the ports of donor countries to speed up their 
distribution. 
   "We lack the human resources and necessary funds to do our work 
with the drive, flexibility and steadfastness that today and 
tomorrow's world demand," he added. 
   The FAO director-general called for a rapid conclusion to the 
Uruguay Round of GATT negotiations to help bring about an improvement 
in the prices of tropical products like coffee, tea, cocoa, sugar, 
bananas, cotton and rice. 
   "The prices of tropical products have spiralled down for decades, 
making it impossible for the producer countries to clear their heavy 
burden of debt and pay for imports." 
   The alarming food situation in Africa is one of the principal 
items on the agenda at the FAO council which runs until November 20. 
   <<>> 

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Posted by Bernhard Helander in Uppsala, Sweden.