From: barnhart@ddsw1.MCS.COM (Mr. Aaron Barnhart)
Subject: IPS:SOMALIA: U.S. TROOPS NEED TO WATCH FOR ARMED BANDITS
Date: Sun, 13 Dec 1992 07:33:27 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'.

Reference: North America
Title: SOMALIA: U.S. TROOPS NEED TO WATCH FOR ARMED BANDITS


an inter press service feature

by horace awori

nairobi, dec 3 (ips) -- although somalia's warlord, general
mohamed farah aideed, has welcomed the united states offer to
send 20,000 peacekeepers to the war-shattered horn of africa
country, his turn-about invites suspicion.

earlier, he had objected to the presence of a 500-strong
united nations force, stationed in the somali capital,
mogadishu, to guard emergency relief shipments.

but increased insecurity in the last three weeks virtually
paralysed relief food operations and up to 1,000 people are
dying daily from war-induced starvation. meanwhile, aideed's
forces have been driven out of his south-western stronghold of
berdhera by the somali national front (snf).

the front comprises remnants of former somali president
mohamed siad barre's army, mainly drawn from his marehan clan.
the snf is commanded by general mohamed morgan, son-in-law of
the dictator who was ousted in january 1991.

aideed's rival, somalia interim president ali mahdi, who also
leads a faction of the united somali congress (usc), has yet to
react to the u.s. offer nor to the u.n. proposal of a coalition
force to guard relief efforts and feed the starving, but many
somalis are enthusiatic about an intervention.

according to relief workers in somalia, tension and conflict
have increased in the country since october as armed supporters
of different clan-based political groups shifted alliances,
especially in the central and southern regions of the country,
leaving aideed in a tight spot.

''it is from this position of isolation and current weakness
that aideed is seen as agreeing to the u.s. forces, hoping that
they will help him keep what territory he has under control'', a
somali lawyer and former member of parliament exiled in kenya,
yusuf osman samatar, told ips.

somalia's warlords should be watched carefully, samatar
cautioned, because like aideed, they may welcome u.s. or any
other troops ''but not out of genuine desire for peace or ending
the suffering of their people''.

the warlords, he said, could do so for political gains ''and
once this is not perceived as possible, they will be the first
to call for the withdrawal of troops from the country''.
(more/ips)


somalia: u.s. troops (2)

a recent report on the situation in somalia by the u.n.
children's fund (unicef) says ''the threat from aideed set all
his rivals thinking seriously about their own prospects for
survival in an environment increasingly dominated by the usc
leader''.

fearing that aideed was about to turn on them as his
dominance over the country increased, the marehan, darod,
mijerteen and abgal clans set aside their common hostility in a
bid to diffuse his planned onslaught.

even mahdi had felt his presidency threatened. his emissaries
began to ply the country from bosasso in the far north-east to
garbahirrei in the south-west searching out allies.

by early october the search was yielding results. the abgal
and the murusade clans that support mahdi made an alliance with
the marehan and the mijerteen clans against aideed's habar gedir
sub-clan and its usc faction.

with a political solution to the somali crisis still far-off,
relief agencies operating in the country express mixed reactions
to the impending landing of u.s. or allied military force in
somalia.

the international committee of the red cross has joined u.n.
agencies in calling for security to enable the relief workers to
operate.

but other agencies, including the save the children fund and
medicines sans frontieres, have expressed reservations about a
huge foreign military presence in somalia. they fear it could
jeopardise their lives and the relief operations.

there are many armed bandits and desert warriors who are
under nobody's control. it is feared that the bandits, often
drugged on the euphoriant khat leaves, could be sources of
problems unless they were quickly dealt with.

a u.s. naval ship with 2,000 marines is already off somalia's
coast and washington maintains that its troops will be used for
the specified task of ensuring food distribution -- for a
limited period -- once the u.n. authorises their landing.
(end/ips/ha/ar/92)
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