From: antbh@strix.udac.uu.se (Bernhard Helander)
Subject: Somalia News Update, No 31, October 9
Followup-To: alt.activism.d
Originator: rich@pencil.cs.missouri.edu
Organization: Uppsala University
Date: Fri, 9 Oct 1992 22:19:35 GMT

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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 31                 October 9, 1992.               ISSN 1103-1999

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Somalia News Update is published irregularly via electronic mail.
Questions can be directed to antbh@strix.udac.uu.se or to fax number
+46-18-151160. All material is free too quote as long as the source 
is stated.
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In this issue: TOXIC WASTE DUMPING CONTINUES
               ACP DIVIDED OVER EC DECISION TO USE LOME FUNDS
               AUDREY HEPBURN IN SOMALIA
               KENYA CALLS FOR 'ZONES OF PEACE'
               LOCALLY PRODUCED FOOD MORE EXPENSIVE 
               PALME'S WIDOW IN CROSS-FIRE AT MOG. AIRPORT
               INTERVIEW WITH MOHAMED SAHNOUN 


EC SAYS IT CANNOT STOP TOXIC WASTE DUMPING, BUT...

brussels, sep 30 (ips/bob mantiri) -- the european commission saysthat 
while it cannot prevent the dumping of toxic waste insomalia, it is at least 
urging its 12 member states to adopt toxicwaste anti-dumping legislation.
the ''commission has no mandate to take any measures to preventthe 
dumping of the hazardous chemical waste'', an official of theec commission 
on environment said wednesday, referring to recentreports that european 
firms were dumping toxic waste in and alongthe coast of war-torn somalia.
united nations environment programme (unep) director mustaphatolba 
reiterated wednesday that ''mafia'' organisations are usingthe ''situation 
of anarchy in somalia to dump the toxic waste fromitaly and switzerland on 
the somalian coast''.
according to the ec-official, former environment commissionerripa de 
meana, who is now minister for environment in italy, hasordered an 
investigation into the reports which first surfaced twoweeks ago.
then, the unep alleged that italian and swiss firms were lastdecember 
given a 20-year concession to export wastes to somalia bya certain nur elmy 
osman, who calls himself the minister of healthunder self-styled somalian 
president ali mahdi mohammed.
carlos jimenez, spokesperson of the geneva-based unep, saidwednesday 
that the alleged deal struck between the so-calledsomalian minister of 
health and the european firms, was worth asmuch as 800 million dollars.
mahdi, who controls a small part of the somalian capital ofmogadishu, 
however denies making any such deal.
mahdi is one of the two main warlords to have emerged sinceformer 
dictator mohammed siad barre was driven out of the country.his forces and 
those under rival faction leader mohammed farahaideed have for the past 20 
months been engaged in a viciousstruggle for power.
two unep officials who visited somalia in the first week ofseptember, 
claimed that several dumpings have already occurred.they said they had 
discovered a warehouse in hargesa, in northernsomalia, full of pesticide 
containers.
''a blaze had damaged several containers and the toxic wasteleaked into 
a nearby dry riverbed that is used for drinkingwater,'' a unep spokesperson 
told ips.
unep has since contacted the governments of the countries fromwhere the 
alleged firms operate. unep's spokesperson jimenez hasalso revealed that his 
organisation is negotiating with keyauthoritative figures in somalia to have 
the practice stamped out.
''uneps's objective is to ensure that any more planned disposalsdo not 
occur,'' he said
african, caribbean and pacific (acp) official and barbadianambassador 
to brussels orlando marville, has also urged theeuropean parliament to take 
immediate measures.
addressing the eec-acp joint assembly in luxembourg on 
wednesday,marville said: ''my god, as if the war and the famine are 
notenough, we hear about toxic waste. this is a disgrace. we must 
dosomething about somalia and now.''(end/ips/ip-en/bm/cpg/92)!                               




ACP DIVIDED OVER EC DECISION TO USE LOME FUNDS
by Alecia Mckenzie
Luxembourg, Sep 29 (IPS) -- When the European Community (EC)agreed 
earlier this month to send 550 Belgian troops to Somalia tohelp protect aid 
convoys, the decision was welcomed by the United Nations.
But the financing of the operation is continuing to drawcriticism from 
some members of the african, caribbean and pacific(acp) group of states.
The cost of maintaining the troops for a year in the war-torncountry 
has been set at 37 million dollars, of which the ec willpay 27 million 
dollars, and belgium and the united nations five million dollars each.
But the ec's contribution will be drawn from development fundsallocated 
to somalia under the Lome ii and iii conventions --special development aid 
agreements between the ec and the acp.
This decision is considered ''shameful'' and a ''dangerousprecedent'' 
by several acp officials, while others stress thatsomalia urgently needs 
help and by whatever means necessary.
the matter is causing disagreement among the regional blocs inthe 69-
member group, which has been experiencing increasinginternal friction during 
the past year.
critics of the ec plan formally voiced their complaint tuesdayduring 
the acp-eec joint assembly being held this week inluxembourg.
''why is it necessary to use development funds when that moneywill be 
needed to rehabilitate the country after the war,''orlando marville, the 
barbadian ambassador to brussels askedeuropean parliamentarians and european 
commission officials.
another acp official added: ''as usual the money comes back toeurope, 
it's shameful.''
the group's official line however, has been one of tacit approvalof the 
ec plan, although critics within the acp say that theirpartners who support 
the proposal are allowing what amounts to a''sellout'' of somalia.
but afamasaga toleafoa, who currently holds the rotatingpresidency of 
the acp's bureau of committee of ambassadors,dismisses the criticism. on the 
same day that the ec approachedthe acp with the proposal, he had written a 
letter on behalf ofhis colleagues, urging the ec to take action to help 
somalia.
''the ec approached us with their plan because there is 
nobodyrepresenting somalia here,'' he explained. ''we left it up to 
thecommunity to consult the rules of the lome convention. but webelieve 
something has to be done because so many people are dyingin somalia. that is 
our concern.''
the ec desk officer for somalia, yasmin soezen, was equallydismissive 
of the criticism. ''maybe spending the money on troopsis not the best thing, 
but something has to be done to stop thebandits who are attacking aid 
convoys,'' she said. ''that is thepriority now.''
soezen added that ''in a situation like somalia'', the ec hasno other 
funds available.
the funds to be used for the troops come from the lome''indicative 
programme'' and are usually spent on the building ofhospitals, roads, 
schools or whatever else the country concernedthinks is necessary.
some acp officials like marville are however concerned thatthere will 
be no money available for somalia to rebuild once thewar is over.
meanwhile, the belgian troops will be leaving for somalia anytime now. 
the troops are the ec's contribution to a larger,international protection 
force.
according to a spokesperson for the belgian ministry of foreignaffairs, 
the u.n. specifically requested belgian troops from theec because the 
belgians have proven themselves in croatia, where650 of them are among the 
peacekeeping forces.
in addition, said the ministry official, belgians are known fortheir 
knowledge of different languages and their flexibility indifferent 
situations. ''we do have some experience in africa. alot of our people have 
been to zaire and rwanda for training andso on,'' the official said.
but in reaction to this comment, an acp official remarked,''and what 
about the french and the italians, they don't haveexperience in africa?  
suppose other ec countries decide they,too, want to send troops to somalia 
and be paid for it out of theindicative funds? what then?''
another acp representative at the joint assembly, kenyan memberof 
parliament ntana lewa, suggested that kenyan troops should beused instead of 
belgians because they know the area and thepeople.   ''what happens when the 
european troops leave? he asked.''we cannot keep on calling them to come 
back.''
but even as the acp and the ec grapple with such questions, thefighting 
and dying is continuing in war-torn, drought strickensomalia with an 
estimated 1.5 million people facing starvation.


AUDREY HEPBURN IN SOMALIA
london, sept 29 (ips) -- barely holding back the tears, actressaudrey 
hepburn tuesday joined the cry of aid organisations who arepleading to the 
international community to help the millionsstarving in somalia and not to 
just let them ''vanish from theearth''.
having recently returned from a five-day visit to the war-torncountry, 
the united nations children's fund (unicef) goodwillambassador says the 
sight of the starving somali children was''the worst thing'' she has ever 
witnessed.
''some of the children i had visited in the feeding centres couldbarely 
walk,'' she recalled, ''and when you go nearer, they don'treact. ''i 
couldn't even carry them in my arms because they lookso delicate that i 
thought they would break.''
briefing journalists in london, the international film star andacademy 
award winner, appealed to the international community tostep up its aid 
efforts. ''for many (children) it is too late. butfor many others there is 
still time and some hope,'' she says.
hepburn's plea comes against the backdrop of recent reports thatmany 
european countries -- in the face of domestic economicproblems -- are 
contemplating aid cuts by as much as 10 percent todeveloping countries.
unicef's uk director robert smith says that already aid 
agenciesthroughout britain are trying to persuade the british governmentto 
reconsider such cuts.
he is also urging ''all governments in the world to respond tothe need 
of the child'' as agreed by world leaders at the worldsummit for children in 
1990.
unicef has earmarked 13 million dollars for its programme insomalia, 
says anne winter of unicef, which is now expanding itsimmunisation programme 
in the country.
''somalia had one of the best established health systems at thevillage 
level in africa, and by reactivating this structure unicefbelieves that we 
will not just have a successful measles campaign,but a sustainable health 
programme,'' adds mark stirling, a unicefrepresentative based in somalia.
indeed, the campaign has taken off. in the first phase alone,over 
67,000 children have been immunised against measles and over20,000 of these 
have also been vaccinated against tetanus, polio,diphtheria, tuberculosis 
and pertussis (whooping cough).
''with greater access to the interior regions of the southern,central 
and northern somalia, unicef's initial aim of vaccinating140,000 children by 
the end of december, has been increased to atarget over one million 
children,'' says stirling.
for the campaign to succeed, somalia needs to assure the variousnon-
governmental organisations (ngos) working in the country, of alasting 
peaceful solution to its 20-month old civil war.
the unrest in the country heightened early last year after thevarious 
clans that had united to drive out dictator mohammed siadbarre turned 
against each other in a vicious battle for power.
the former president was forced to flee the capital, mogadishu,after 20 
years of dictatorial rule, leaving a trail of famine,exacerbated by the 
drought and civil war. aid agencies estimatethat 1.5 million people require 
urgent food aid in somalia.
hepburn is optimistic that there will soon be peace in somalia.during 
her visit (sep. 20-24), she met with various u.n.officials, including 
ambassador mohamed sahnoun, specialrepresentative for the secretary general, 
brigadier general imtiazshaheen, the chief military officer, and dr. david 
bassiouni, thecoordinator for humanitarian assistance for somalia.
she says the three hold round the clock talks with the variouswarlords. 
but they report that the progress is slow and timeconsuming.
but there's still hope, she says, drawing reference to herchildhood in 
the netherlands during the second world war. born inbelgium of a british 
father and a dutch mother, she painfullyrecalls: ''we had to wait for five 
years to be liberated from (thenazi) repressions.'' 

SOMALIA: KENYA CALLS FOR SETTING UP 'ZONES OF PEACE' FOR REFUGEES
luxembourg, sep 30 (ips/alecia mckenzie) -- kenya is appealing tothe 
european community (ec) and other western powers to establish''zones of 
peace'' in somalia to stem the tide of refugees fleeingto neighbouring 
countries.
kenya, which is sheltering about 700,000 refugees -- 70 percentof whom 
are somalis -- says that it has been ''pushed to itslimits'' and that the 
refugees are placing a great strain on thecountry's ''fragile economic 
situation''.
the appeal was made during the acp-eec joint assembly takingplace this 
week in luxembourg. the acp is the 69-nation groupingof african, caribbean 
and pacific territories.
dr. mtana lewa, the spokesperson for kenya at the jointassembly, said 
that his country appreciated what the ec had doneup to now for somalia, but 
that sending more food aid to therefugee camps along the kenyan border -- 
south of somalia -- isnot the solution.
''if zones of peace were established in somalia, the refugeeswouldn't 
have to walk such long distances to come to kenya,'' hesaid. ''they are 
exhausted and dehydrated when they get there.many die on the way. and there 
is no infrastructure in thecamps.''
he added that another problem facing the kenyan authorities isthat of 
''tribal conflict'' in the refugee camps. ''you have to becareful who you 
put with whom. that's why it's better to havezones of peace within their own 
country,'' lewa said.
somalia is now in the grip of a vicious 20-month-old civil warinvolving 
the same factions which had previously united to forcedictator mohammed siad 
barre to flee the country. an estimated 1.5million people are said to be 
threatened with starvation becauseof massive food shortages.
djibouti, too, on the northern border of somalia, is in need ofurgent 
help in dealing with an estimated 100,000 refugees.
''kenya, djibouti and ethiopia can no longer support theburden.  the 
international community has been very late inreacting,'' a representative 
from djibouti said. ''we thank the ecfor the aid so far but there needs to 
be an increase. we needmedicine, water and housing.''
he said it was not a matter of djibouti ''feeling sorry forourselves, 
but some solution must be found to the war insomalia''.  a political 
initiative is now necessary, he stressed.
but baroness linda chalker, the current president of the eccouncil of 
ministers, told the joint assembly that while the ec --now chaired by 
britain -- is willing to contribute to unitednations peacekeeping efforts in 
somalia, its 12 member states areconcerned about the protection of these 
troops.
european commission commissioner manuel marin, responsible 
fordevelopment, added: ''i don't think there's anything we can doabout the 
political problems in somalia. this is a very sensitiveissue.'' but the 
community, he said, would do ''what we can forkenya''. 

LOCALLY PRODUCED FOOD MORE EXPENSIVE THAN IMPORTED
 Written  5:19 pm  Oct  7, 1992 by jnr in cdp:hunger.general 
/APn  10/06 0139  Somalia-Hapless Farmers
Copyright, 1992. The Associated Press. All rights reserved. 
By EDITH M. LEDERER   
JAMBALUL, Somalia (AP) -- In this famine-stricken country wherehundreds 
die of starvation every day, Nasir Ali Ahmed can't sellthe corn he's been 
harvesting. 
The market is so flooded with food looted from foreign donorsthat 
prices are tumbling. Local farmers like Ahmed just can'tcompete. 
If Ahmed sells at the local market price of $6.60 for a 110-poundsack, 
he'd lose three-quarters of his investment. 
"We have this maize (corn) which is expensive, but nobody willbuy it 
until it is the same price as the looted maize," Ahmedsaid as he surveyed a 
bin overflowing with corn in his farmyard. 
"These looted commodities may help those who are not in aposition to 
feed themselves, because prices are cheap," saidfellow farmer Nur Mohammud 
Siyad. "But it is a great loss for bigfarmers like us because we need to pay 
the cost of running ourfarm from the sale of maize." 
Food has become virtually the only tradeable commodity left in acountry 
wracked by one of the century's most devastating famines,a country torn by 
clan warfare that has been so thoroughly lootedthat even sewer pipes are dug 
up and sold for scrap. 
In the Bakaara market in Mogadishu, about 20 miles to the east,sacks of 
Argentine corn marked as a gift from the U.N. World FoodProgram were piled 
alongside U.S. rice, beans and sorghum andFrench wheat. 
"The imported food is cheaper because nobody paid money for it.It's 
either looted or it may have been sold by people whoreceived it and wanted 
money instead," said Hassan Ali Siyad, whoruns a warehouse. 
What makes Somali corn so expensive is the cost of gasoline, nowabout 
$2.50 a gallon, which powers the irrigation pumps thatbring water from the 
Shebelle River. 
Some relief experts blame the big farmers for hoarding food tomake a 
huge profit during the famine instead of selling atreasonable prices and 
avoiding needless deaths. 
"There is not a lot of sympathy for these farmers because to acertain 
extent they brought it on themselves," said RhodriWynn-Pope, team leader for 
the relief agency CARE. 
"However, in the interest of the economic recovery of Somalia, aplan 
will have to be devised to ensure their livelihood withoutmaking an 
excessive profit out the system," she said. 
Hussein Moalim Imam, team leader for the British charity Oxfam inthe 
lower Shebelle, said the international community should startbuying locally 
produced corn and sorghum to feed the hungry or todistribute as seed for 
poor farmers. 
"This would trigger the country's agricultural sector andcontribute to 
employment," he said. 
Imam, who studied at California State University in San LuisObispo, 
said international donors could easily buy 10,000 tonslocally this season. 
The U.N. estimates that 50,000 tons of food are needed everymonth to 
feed 2 million Somalis threatened with starvation. 
With encouragement, said Imam, farmers could produce 25,000 tonsof corn 
and sorghum next season and 35,000 tons after another twogood seasons. 
"The private relief agencies and international donors 
areunderestimating what the Somali farmers can produce," he said."If they 
really encourage production, it's unbelievable what theycan do." 
Holdbrook Arthur, director of operations for the U.N. World 
FoodProgram, which distributes donor food, said he planned to findout what 
kind of stocks the farmers have. 
"Then we can put it to our headquarters to see if it's possibleto buy 
some of the product from them," he said. 
Imam said Oxfam is already buying an improved local corn seedcalled 
Somtux. The International Committee of the Red Cross andthe Irish charity 
Concern are also arranging to purchase localseed. 


OLOF PALME'S WIDOW IN CROSS-FIRE AT MOG. AIRPORT

APn  10/05 1440  Somalia
Copyright, 1992. The Associated Press. All rights reserved. 
 
By EDITH LEDERER   Associated Press Writer 
MOGADISHU, Somalia (AP) -- Heavy machine gun and rifle fire brokeout at 
the port and airport in Mogadishu on Monday, disruptingthe unloading of food 
for Somali famine victims. 
U.N. officials reported an undetermined number of deaths at theIndian 
Ocean port. It was not known whether anyone was killed atthe airport. 
Lisbeth Palme, widow of assassinated Swedish Prime Minister OlafPalme, 
arrived at the airport from Nairobi just as shooting beganat the nearby 
port. Mrs. Palme, who heads the U.N. Children'sFund in Sweden, was quickly 
taken into the capital. 
Tommy Thomson, 49, of South Africa, who coordinates airportoperations 
for the U.N. World Food Program, said that about anhour after Mrs. Palme 
left the airport, gunmen started firing.50-caliber machine guns across the 
tarmac. 
"You could hear them ricochet off the ground, and you can hearthe crack 
before the bang, which means they're firing at you,' hesaid. 
A Belgian C-130 cargo plane and a Canadian C-130 were unloadingrelief 
goods when the shooting started, and both managed to getabout half their 
cargo on the ground before taking off, Thomsonsaid. 
It was not possible to get comment from the Canadians andBelgians, 
whose airlift operations are headquartered inneighboring Kenya. Neither 
group answered its telephone. 
Clan fighting, banditry and looting have crippled internationalefforts 
to feed Somalia's starving people. Some aid officialsestimate as much as 
half the estimated 181,500 tons of fooddelivered to the country has been 
stolen. 
More than 100,000 Somalis already have died from the combinedeffects of 
drought and warfare and up to 2 million more arethreatened. 
The cause of Monday's fighting was unclear. Unconfirmed reportssaid it 
was sparked by the refusal of the Hawadle clan, whichcontrols the airport, 
to allow Somalia's main warlord, Gen.Mohamed Farrah Aidid, who belongs to a 
different clan, to enterseveral days ago. 
Aidid's supporters reportedly massed men and armed vehicles in 
anabandoned military barracks about a half mile south of theairport on 
Sunday. 
Anticipating trouble, U.N. officials took extra precautions inclearing 
all flights in and out of the field on Monday. 
A twin-engine plane chartered by the United Nations departedseconds 
before the firing started, Thomson said. It had beenexpected to take Mrs. 
Palme back to Nairobi, but she insteadremained in Mogadishu. 
Thomson said he left the airport in a four-wheel-drive vehicleflying 
the flag of the International Committee of the Red Crossand came under heavy 
automatic fire. 
Another Red Cross vehicle was hijacked less than a mile from theairport 
and the three armed security guards had their weaponsstolen, he said. The 
Red Cross got the car back, but not theguns. 
Two ships were tied up at the port, a Nigerian freighter carryingabout 
4,400 tons of wheat and a Saudi vessel with 3,850 tons ofdates, sugar, rice, 
powdered milk and other commodities. 
Five hundred armed U.N. troops from Pakistan are expected to bedeployed 
at the port and airport to guard relief shipments andprotect relief workers. 
The battalion is being housed in a hangarand other buildings at the airport, 
but was not involved inMonday's fighting and made no effort to halt it. 
Brig. Gen. Imtiaz Shaheen, commander of the force, said he had"no 
answer yet" on when his men would be deployed. 
Asked about the shooting, he replied, "This happens. Bad, isn'tit?" 


INTERVIEW WITH MOHAMED SAHNOUN
Copyright, 1992. The Associated Press. All rights reserved. 
MOGADISHU, Somalia (AP) -- Mohamed Sahnoun, an Algerian diplomatwho 
represents U.N. Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali inSomalia, spoke 
recently with the AP's Edith M. Lederer about thesituation in the famine-
struck nation. 
Q: What are the biggest problems in Somalia today? 
A: It's still people dying from hunger and hunger-relateddiseases. 
Large areas of Somalia have still never been touched by theemergency 
relief program. This includes parts of the south, thewhole central region, 
the northeast, the northwest. 
The second problem is security. Because of the scarcity of foodand the 
long delay in mounting this assistance operation, we havepeople who are 
ready to fight and to loot for food. 
It is certainly one of the worst situations we have ever seenbecause 
there was a very long civil war and drought and we didnot intervene. So now 
we find the country in chaos, and that iswhy the task is extremely complex 
and long. 
Q: What is being done to alleviate these problems? 
A: We have to try to see that there is some kind of equity in 
thedistribution of food. And, therefore, we have to enhance securityof this 
humanitarian operation. That is why we are trying tobring U.N. troops into 
Somalia. The first 500 are already here.We need more, especially to secure 
the ports outside Mogadishu. 
Q: Is the international community doing enough? 
A: The international community has again responded too very late.
The amount of food received is only now beginning to be at 
theappreciable level. It's still not enough, and people are stilldying by 
the hundreds every day. 
We estimated the minimum needs for the whole of Somalia at around50,000 
tons per month. We have been receiving about 20,000. Overthe next 100 days, 
we hope to be receiving 100,00 metric tons,still too little. 
We should provide more food to the 4.5 million people who are nowin 
great need, especially the one million who are threatened byhunger and 
disease. 
The international airlift has been of tremendous help in reachingremote 
areas where roads are not very secure. We hope that itwill be sustained. We 
need to carry on more airdrops in thecurrent rainy season when most 
airfields will not be operational.
In other sectors -- health, water and sanitation -- we are stillfar, 
far behind. We need volunteers and financial support fromthe international 
community to restore these services. 
Only 10 to 12 hospitals are functioning partially out of 70hospitals in 
the whole of Somalia. The water system has beendestroyed virtually 
everywhere. The sanitation problem is gettingworse and worse. Dead bodies 
buried at the edge of rivers arebeing carried into the water. This will 
create very seriousproblems because most people in southern Somalia drink 
riverwater. 
Q: What are the biggest frustrations? 
A: There are so many. 
I think we have gotten over the biggest frustration -- the nearsilence 
and scant interest in the plight of the Somali people atthe beginning. For 
months and months, we were seeing people dyingby the thousands. Now there is 
more interest and we feel better. 
The second big frustration is the security issue. It'sfrustrating to 
sometimes see food stored for days at the port ofMogadishu because of the 
security problems when just a couple ofmiles away people are dying from 
hunger.
We argue with some of these armed groups. We say, "It's yourbrothers, 
your sisters, your sons, your daughters who are dying.How can you stop this 
food from getting to them?" But it'sextremely difficult. They seem to be 
living in another world.It's almost a kind of survival instinct. They don't 
care. Theywant to first have their and their clan's share. 
Q: Do you see an end to the famine and to the state of anarchy? 
A: I think we might check the situation if we increase theassistance, 
sustain the airlift, and get more people to come andinvolve themselves in 
the relief operations. I don't think we'llsee the very end, but we might 
make it not as frustrating as itis right now. 
Anarchy -- that's a different thing. The situation is so, sochaotic. 
The Somalis have been left alone fighting each other forsuch a long time 
that reconciliation is very difficult. Theirsociety has broken into 1,000 
pieces, so you can imagine theproblems of putting it together again. 
The Somalis rely on their families and sub-clans for survival.They're 
extremely jealous of whatever small power they have. Soour approach now is 
to try to reconcile the people on a localbasis and on a regional basis, and 
then hopefully on a nationallevel. 
We are making some progress. We are trying to use the clanelders. Their 
traditional role has been challenged by the armedgroups and the warlords. 
But their conciliation and mediationability is still important. 
Q: Some politicians and commentators have said the only solutionis for 
the United Nations to take over Somalia and run it astrusteeship. Is this a 
possibility or is it out of the question? 
A: If there was no other alternative to stop the dying, thestarvation 
and the anarchy but for the United Nations to takeover, yes, I might be all 
for it.
But I believe there are alternatives, and we should, of course,put all 
our weight behind them. 
I believe that we are proving gradually that we can work withinthe 
Somali context. We want to promote a civil society. This isvital. We should 
have a trust fund for that purpose. We also wantto rebuild institutions like 
the police force and generateemployment. 
We can also gradually try to provide other alternatives to theseyoung 
people who have guns, who are creating security problemsfor us. Why don't we 
try to open some schools? 
Q: You will be chairing a U.N. donors' conference in Geneva onOct. 12. 
What does it hope to achieve? 
A: We hope that most of the important donor countries will come-- the 
Europeans, the United States, some rich OPEC countries. 
We will be proposing a 100-day program, including 
vaccination,restoration of part of the health, sanitation and water 
systems,and regeneration of agriculture. 
____________________________________________________________________
Posted by Bernhard Helander in Uppsala, Sweden.

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* Dept of Cultural Anthropology    *            +46-18-303448 (home)        *
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