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Somalia Asks Arabs For Urgent Aid As Warlords Meet In Kenya
CAIRO, Feb 26 (News Agencies) - Somalia's transitional government has asked the Arab League to consider a request for urgent financial and humanitarian aid, at the next Arab summit in Amman on March 27th, a Somali diplomat said Monday.
"Somalia is asking the Arab leaders to approve urgent aid to help the transitional government consolidate its position and rebuild the country," a message to Arab League chief Esmat Abdel Meguid from Somalia's ambassador to Cairo Abdullah Hassan Mahmud read.
A Somali diplomatic source in Cairo, where the Arab League is based, said the question of aid to the civil war-torn country had been raised repeatedly at Arab ministerial meetings, but "the aid provided has been minimal."
He did not say how much aid had been given so far.
The Somali transitional government was formed last year, almost a decade after the collapse of Somalia's central government in 1991 and following months of talks between Somali clan leaders in Djibouti.
Two days ago, six principal Somali warlords were in the Kenyan capital, Nairobi, to seek support for a new national reconciliation conference to establish a national government.
The six warlords - all representing clans inhabiting Mogadishu and bitterly opposed to the STG - are Hussein Mohamed Aidid, Musa Sudi Yalahow, Osman Hassan Ali "Atto", Hilowle Imam Omar, Jama Haji Hussein and Mawlid Ma'ane Mohamed.
During their stay in the Kenyan capital, the six were expected to hold talks with Kenyan President Daniel arap Moi, as well as with the diplomatic community and aid agencies operating in Somalia.
The STG was formed last year, almost a decade after the collapse of Somalia's central government in 1991 and following months of talks between Somali clan leaders in Djibouti's resort town of Arta.
The STG's opponents refer to it as the "Arta Faction" - a way of denying that the regime has any real legitimacy.
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