From: Jim Rosenfield <jnr@igc.apc.org>
Newsgroups: soc.culture.african
Date: 05 Oct 92 21:36 PDT
Subject: 9/25 Wire stories on hunger
Nf-ID: #N:cdp:1471700147:000:3694
Nf-From: cdp.UUCP!jnr    Oct  5 21:36:00 1992


/* Written  8:36 pm  Sep 25, 1992 by jnr in cdp:hunger.general */
/* ---------- "9/25 Wire stories on hunger" ---------- */

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

By EDITH M. LEDERER

MOGADISHU, Somalia (AP) -- A long-awaited U.N. force of 500 armed
Pakistani troops is expected to begin guarding relief shipments
to this dying nation in about 10 days, its commander said Friday.

But the force is far from enough to guard the entire relief
effort. U.N. and U.S. officials were pressing the country's main
warlord to allow the deployment 3,000 more foreign troops.

Civil war and lawlessness since the ouster of dictator Mohamed
Siad Barre in Jan. 1991, combined with a devastating drought,
have caused a famine that has killed more than 100,000 people.
Two million more are estimated to be at risk.

U.S. military planes have ferried more than 300 of the troops and
their equipment to the Somali capital, and the rest of the force
should arrive within four days, said Brig. Gen. Imtiaz Shaheen.

Four U.S. warships and 2,100 marines off the coast of Mogadishu,
sent to monitor an American food airlift, will leave after all
the Pakistani troops have arrived.

Shaheen said it would take about a week after that to deploy
troops, who are only to guard Mogadishu's port and airport.

"We've got to prepare (the troops)," he said. "They've got to
understand the place, they've got to orient themselves."

The presence of the U.S. forces angered the country's main
warlord, Mohamed Farrah Aidid, who opposes foreign intervention
and demanded their removal.

Aidid only reluctantly approved the 500-member U.N. force and
last Saturday ruled out increasing it to the 3,500 authorized by
the United Nations. That was the minimum strength considered
necessary to safeguard relief operations throughout Somalia.

Shaheen said he and other U.N. officials were still discussing
arrangements for the deployment of the U.N. force with the
different clans whose gunmen control the port and airport.

U.N. Special Envoy Mohamed Sahnoun warned Aidid that if he
refused to allow U.N. troops at other ports -- especially
Kismayu, 250 miles southeast of Mogadishu -- he would be held
responsible for the deaths of thousands of starving Somalis
because international relief efforts would not be able to reach
them.

Ambassador Peter DeVos, the U.S. special envoy to Somalia, met
separately Friday with Aidid, who controls much of southern
Somalia, and his rival Ali Mahdi Mohamed, who holds the title of
interim president but holds only a small section of northern
Mogadishu.

Asked whether Aidid was likely to make concessions on U.N.
troops, DeVos said: "I think that he's examining ways to get the
food to the people. I'm encouraged by his demonstration of
flexibility."

For the past month, the United States has airlifted food to
several Somali towns, but DeVos said planes -- which are
expensive and can only carry small loads -- are not the answer.
Food must be delivered by ship and road, he said.

Aidid supporters in Nairobi, Kenya, claimed Friday that a Kenyan
army helicopter was shot down near Aidid's southern stronghold of
Bardera earlier this week, but gave no casualty figure. They
contended it was proof the Kenyan government was supporting
loyalists of the ousted dictator, Siad Barre.

A U.N. source in Mogadishu, speaking on condition of anonymity,
said a Kenyan army helicopter had been captured and that the
United Nations was negotiating for its return. He would not
elaborate.

Kenyan government officials said they had no information on such
an incident.
-------------------------------------------------------------
Used with permission of the Associated Press



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