In this issue:
* AIDEED MEETS REPRESENTATIVES OF THE GROUP OF 12 IN KENYA
* MAKING MONEY ON MINES
* BOAT REFUGEES, AGAIN...
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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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Vol 3, No             January 3, 1994.             ISSN 1103-1999  

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Somalia News Update is published irregularly via electronic mail and 
fax. Questions can be directed to Bernhard.Helander@antro.uu.se or 
to fax number +46-18-151160. All SNU marked material is free to 
quote as long as the source is clearly stated.  
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AIDEED MEETS REPRESENTATIVES OF THE GROUP OF 12 IN KENYA

(SNU, Uppsala, January 3) - The foreign affairs secretary for Aideed's 
Somalia National Alliance, Issa Mohamed Siad yesterday told Reuters "secret 
talks" were being held between Aideed and representatives of the Group of 
12, a coalition of factions headed Ali Mahdi Mohamed.
     He said the talks were being held in secret sponsored by Kenyan 
President Daniel Arap Moi at his residence in Nakuru, 160 km north-west of 
Nairobi.
     A previous round of talks between representatives of the SNA and the 
Group of 12 collapsed in the Ethiopian capital of Addis Ababa in December 
and since then Aideed has been searching for ways to get back to Somalia. 
Only two days ago an anonymous SNA representative in Nairobi told reporters 
that it was the security problem in Somali airports that was the main 
obstacle for Aideed's return.
     Issa welcomed the tone of a New Year speech by Ali Mahdi in which he 
called on "our brother, the SNA, and their supporters to be positive and
flexible...and to participate in the formation of the assemblies."
     "We are ready to sit down with the other factions and form some sort of
administration or government," Issa told Reuters. 


MAKING MONEY ON MINES

(SNU, Uppsala, December 30, 1993) - A spokesman for UNOSOM II 
reported today that preliminary negotiations on de-mining projects 
were being held with various Somali groups, among them a company in 
the Garbahary-Luuq area, and with private firms or authorities in 
Sablaale, North Mogadishu, Galkayo and Belet Weyne.  The spokesman 
said it was hoped that the de-mining projects would be undertaken by 
Somalis themselves.  He stressed, however, that UNOSOM II would 
ensure that prospective de-mining enterprises had the necessary 
training and expertise before they were awarded any de-mining 
contracts.
     What UNOSOM does not seem to have calculated with is that this 
easily could make the use of mines doubly profitable. Once they have 
served their military purpose, the militia who lay out the mines can 
present UNOSOM with a "de-mining project", remove the mines, and be 
paid for it by UNOSOM. The continued use of mines is a major problem 
in the Somali civil war and successful de-mining requires some amount 
of cooperation with the persons who planted them. However, by 
encouraging "local companies" to start their own de-mining projects, 
UNOSOM may have just have encouraged more mines to be put in the 
Somali soil. 


BOAT REFUGEES, AGAIN...

(SNU, Uppsala, January 3) - Reuters reported on December 29 that more than 
150 Somali refugees had spent their fifth day stranded on a ship off Mombasa 
with Kenyan authorities refusing to allow them to land. A day later, after 
pressure from Bart Leerschool, UNHCR representative in the port, the 
authorities allowed the refugees to leave the ship.
     Although the appalling conditions in the Kenyan refugee camps 
constitute a discouragement, some Somalis still favour an uncertain future 
in those camps before the turmoil in their own country. During first half of 
1993 there was a continued increase of refugees seeking to return to 
Somalia. However, after the American administration decided to pull out its 
troops by March 31 this year and other nations followed their example, there 
are now several indications that the stream of refugees might be turning. In 
late November eighty-six Somali refugees were stranded for a week last month 
on a ship before Kenya granted them temporary asylum. 
 
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SNU is an entirely independent newsletter devoted to critical 
analysis of the political and humanitarian developments in Somalia 
and Somaliland. SNU is edited and published by Dr. Bernhard Helander,
Uppsala University, Sweden. SNU is produced with support from the 
Scandinavian Institute of African Studies, Uppsala, Sweden.
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