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UN: SOMALIA:
FORCED ENTRY AND DETENTION OF STAFF PROMPTS UN AGENCY TO SUSPEND AID:
17/10/2007
(MaximsNews Network)
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UNITED
NATIONS - / MaximsNews Network /
- 17 October 2007 –
The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP)
has suspended food distribution in the Somali capital after Government forces
invaded the UN compound in Mogadishu today and abducted the local head of the
agency in a move immediately condemned by Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.
According
to WFP, the incident took place this morning at 8:15 local time, when between 50
and 60 armed members of the Somali National Security Service (NSS) entered the
UN compound in an unauthorized manner, over the protests of UN staff members.
No shots
were fired but WFP’s officer-in-charge, Idris Osman, was taken away at
gunpoint. He is currently being held in a cell at NSS headquarters near the
presidential palace.
Secretary-General
Ban Ki-moon has strongly condemned the incursion and called for Mr. Osman’s
“immediate and unconditional release,” in a statement issued by his
spokesperson.
“Today’s
actions are in flagrant violation of the 1946 Convention on Privileges and
Immunity to which the Somali government formally committed in the January 2006
agreement,” Mr. Ban declared, while reminding the Transitional Federal
Government of its obligation to protect all UN staff members and property.
In light
of Mr. Osman’s detention and the need to safeguard its staff, WFP says it has
been forced to immediately suspend a food distribution programme that began in
Mogadishu on Monday.
The
programme – the agency’s first distribution in the Somali capital since June
– sought to provide food to more than 75,000 people through local mosques.
The
Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) notes that this comes
at a time when more than 1.5 million Somalis need assistance and protection –
a 50 per cent increase since the beginning of the year.
Inadequate
rainfall, as well as continuing internal displacements and a possible cholera
epidemic, has led to a deteriorating food security situation in central and
southern Somalia.
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Labels: United
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