____________________________________________________________________ No 5 August 30, 1992. ISSN 1103-1999 ____________________________________________________________________ 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. ____________________________________________________________________ 1. A spokesman for Save the Children Fund in the UK, yesterday issued a statement in which he strongly criticizes the UN plan for action in Somalia. In a BBC interview he said that the initial inertia of the UN coupled with subsequent lack of coordination and bad advisers not only will serve to complete the Somali tragedy but will have the same scenario repeated in country after country. In an AP statement quoted in Swedish press this morning, he also criticized the plan to bring in 3000 more security personnel as he feared that would trigger further hostilities. Commentary: It is difficult to understand why the SCF goes public with their criticism precisely at this moment when UN have completed a series of decisive decisions and, admittedly slowly, are under way to implement them. It cannot be excluded that the SCF are driving a game on their own. They were recently criticized by Somali veteran Dr R. M. Watson who in a widely circulated paper claimed the the SCF "Mogadishu involvement is an experiment, and an attempt to compete for donations with the high flyers". 2. The second item today is a 10 days old IPS report copied from Usenet. It is 10 days old but, I am afraid, still valid: Sender: barnhart@gagme.chi.il.us (Mr Aaron Barnhart) Organization: Evanston, Illinois Date: Sat, 29 Aug 1992 20:12:34 GMT Reference: Agriculture ~Title: SOMALIA: RELIEF AGENCIES SWING INTO ACTION an inter press service feature by horace awori mogadishu, aug 22 (ips) -- at least 1,000 people die each day in somalia, and 1.5 million are on the brink of starvation according to relief agencies striving to staunch the haemorrhaging of this drought-stricken and war-torn nation. ''we are already at a stage when people are dying like flies'', patrick vial, coordinator of a french charity, 'medecins sans frontiers (msf)' in mogadishu, the somali capital, told ips this week. unless thousands and thousands of tonnes of food are shipped into the country, a fifth of the population in mogadishu may die in the next six months, says vial. the city's residents were estimated at two million before civil conflict broke out over a year ago. ''this situation is worse than ethiopia in 1985 (when famine wiped out one million people in the neighbouring country)'', the msf official added. ''even though the food is not going to where we want it to go because of security problems, we must not stop it being brought'', says david shearer of save the children fund (scf) in mogadishu. many relief agency officials believe that food availability is the answer to both malnutrition and security problems now posed by bands of armed youngsters. food is the most important commodity in the famine-stricken country. until last week, the international committee of the red cross, world vision international, msf and scf were the main organisations sending in about 25,000 tonnes of a food a month. however, the amount was hardly sufficient for the millions affected by the drought and the four-year civil war in the east african country. the united nations' world food programme started aug. 15 a major food airlift into mogadishu, kismayu, berdera and baidawa, the most affected areas of the country. france has also launched a 10-day operation to ferry at least 20,000 tonnes of food from djibouti to baidawa. after being accused of favouring victims of the conflict in sarajevo and overlooking a similar situation in the horn of africa, the united states has started a relief operation for somalia. u.s. airforce transport planes will ferry 145,000 tonnes of food from kenya's port of mombasa to south and western somalia, and to refugees in north-eastern kenya. (more/ips) somalia: relief (2) the u.s. airlifted 10 tonnes of split beans to the kenyan town of wajir friday from food stocks already in mombassa in an operation organised by the u.s. military. direct flights to somalia are expected to begin in the next few days. meanwhile, u.n. special envoy to somalia mahamed sahnoun has called on warring factions in the country to ensure the security of humanitarian operations now under way. on the distribution of emergency relief food, united somali congress (usc) vice chair abdi farah told ips: ''we are committed to work for the people, especially those most affected in the devasted areas in the south (the last stronghold of ousted president siad barre)''. according to farah, the death rate in these areas ''is very high and some of the people are just too weak to bury their dead''. general mohamed farah aideed, leader of a usc faction, has also agreed to let in an infantry battalion of 500 pakistani blue berets recommended by the u.n. security council to guard the humanitarian aid efforts. but interim president ali mahdi, also chair of the usc, would like to see a stronger u.n. presence in the country. at least 15,000 u.n. troops ''are needed to help in the distribution of food because there is a total collapse of the system in the country'', he told ips. speaking from his encalve in northern mogadishu, mahdi admitted the inability of his administration to control the situation in the somali capital. ''it is a pity that the international community never responds quickly enough to emergencies'', a u.n. official in somalia who declined to be named told ips. ''we warned of dire consequences (of drought and war) as early as july last year, but somehow we were not taken seriously until now and after the deaths of thousands of people who need not have died if there had been an immediate respose. ''we moved out of somalia when the factional fighting started and have only come back. but the ngos remained and it is thanks to them that lives have been saved'', the u.n. official added. some non-governmental organisations have criticized u.n. agencies and the international community for failing to act as quickly as they could. ''but this is not a time for recriminations. a lot remains to be done and this calls for cooperation and goodwill from all'', an icrc official said. (end/ips/ha/ar/oa/92)