U R G E N T ! U R G E N T ! U R G E N T ! U R G E N T ! ____________________________________________________________________ S O M A L I A N E W S U P D A T E ____________________________________________________________________ No 37 November 20, 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 too quote as long as the source is stated. ____________________________________________________________________ In this issue: URGENT PRESSURE NEEDED FREE FAX SNA/USC LEADER AYDIID: THE SAVIMBI OF SOMALIA? URGENT PRESSURE NEEDED By Dorothy Morse (November 19) MacNeil/Lehrer said tonight the White House will discuss serious action for Somalia tomorrow. Please call the White House Comment Line--202-456-1111, between 9am and 5pm Eastern time, tomorrow. Or fax any time (starting tonight) at 202-456-2461. Please urge massive increases in food aid and medical supplies. Remember, even Mohamed Sahnoun said things were getting better since the aid increased, despite the looting. And, he said the amount now being delivered is 30,000 tons a month. 60,000 tons a month are needed, so there is plenty of room for improvement there. The main topic of discussion will be military intervention. I plan to urge increased UN troops, deployed swiftly. I think that insofar as outside military force can cause some problems, UN troops are less provocative than US marines. On the M/L News Hour, the former US Ambassador to Somalia, Crigler, said "the American people have shown that they favor helping Somalia." It's important that we continue to show this support. Hope everybody will take the time to make the quick phone call or send a one-paragraph fax. Thanks so much. Events seem to have shown that the online community has made a big difference for Somalia--I hope we can act in great numbers tomorrow and perhaps get some really helpful action out of the White House. ------------------------------------ FREE FAX SNU NOTE: Electronic mail recipients can send FREE FAX via the Swedish University Net (SUNET) addressing their mail as follows: White_House@f0091202-456-2461.fax.sunet.se This will be treated by your server as ordinary mail and peacenet users therefore need not prefix their mail by the ordinary fax command. The fax server uatomatically places long messages in waiting line and deals with shorter messages first. Upon delivery senders get a receipt from the gateway. ------------------------------------ SNA/USC LEADER AYDIID: THE SAVIMBI OF SOMALIA? (SNU, Uppsala, November 19). In a statment issued by the SNA/USC chairman Mohamed Farah Aydiid in Mogadishu November 14, Aydiid spells out his position regarding the recent shooting at the airport and attack on the aid workers at Gesira beach. He explains that the "occupation of the airport by UN troops" has not been "authorized by the USC or SNA authorities". He claims that the deal struck between UNOSOM office and a USC secrutity officer is invalid as it has not respected USC/SNA chain of command. He goes on to claim that "the unilateral decision by Ambassador Kittani [to take control of the airport] was unnecessary". He adds that the UN presence in the airport "jeopardizes the humanitarian assistance in Somalia and is a threat to the peace and stability in Somalia". In an appended but unsigned 12-point declaration, UN and NGO staff are accused of acting more as tourist in the country than as professional relief workers. It is also said that the world should send food directly to Aydiid rather than through the UN. The declaration claims that UN have instigated the recent clashes between the constituent members of the SNA alliance. This apparently refers to the recent fighting between the Somali Patriotic Movement (SPM) based in the Ogden clan and Aydiid's United Somali congress. ____________________________________________________________________ Posted by Bernhard Helander in Uppsala, Sweden.