USA Africa Dialogue Series - Somali rebels deny lifting ban on foreign aid groups

Somali rebels deny lifting ban on foreign aid groups

Al-Shabab spokesman says specific agencies still 'not welcome' in
drought-affected areas, and rejects UN famine claims

Xan Rice in Nairobi
Saturday July 23 2011
The Guardian

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/jul/22/somali-rebels-deny-lifting-ban

Somali Islamist rebels have denied lifting a ban on certain aid groups
in drought-affected areas and rejected the UN's claim that there is a
famine in the region.

The rebel group al-Shabab, which controls much of southern Somalia,
had said earlier this month that it would allow all humanitarian
groups access to assist with the drought response. But al-Shabab
spokesman Sheikh Ali Mohamud Rage has told a local radio station that
the ban on specific aid agencies, which was imposed in 2009 and 2010,
still stands. At the time, the rebels accused various humanitarian
groups, including the UN's World Food Programme (WFP), which is
expected to lead the current drought response, of damaging the local
economy, being anti-Muslim, and of spying for the government.

"Those earlier banned groups are not welcome to serve in our area of
control," Rage said on Friday.

Successive poor rainy seasons have caused a hunger crisis across the
Horn of Africa [http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/jul/20/somalia-
famine-refugee-camp" title="hunger crisis across the Horn of Africa],
where 11 million people urgently need food aid. The situation is most
acute in Somalia due to the ongoing conflict between pro-government
forces and the al-Shabab rebels, as well as the Islamists' mistrust of
outside help. The UN this week declared famine in two regions, Lower
Shabelle and Bakool, which are both largely under the insurgents'
control.

In a media briefing on Thursday evening in Mogadishu, Rage accused the
UN of ulterior motives, and said that there was no famine.

"We say [the UN declaration] is totally, 100% wrong and baseless
propaganda. Yes there is drought, but the conditions are not as bad as
they say. They have another objective and it wouldn't surprise us if
they were politicising the situation."

The WFP plans to airlift food within the next few days into Mogadishu,
to where many people have fled from the countryside due to hunger. The
organisation is also looking at ways of getting food into the famine-
hit areas if it can get assurances that its staff will not be harmed
and aid will not be diverted. David Orr, spokesman for the WFP in
Nairobi, said the organisation had not received any official
communication from al-Shabab that the ban was still in place.

"We are taking at face value the original statement that all
humanitarian agencies will be allowed back in, and are proceeding on
that basis. Our imperative remains getting into the famine zone as
quickly as possible."

guardian.co.uk Copyright (c) Guardian News and Media Limited. 2011

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