UNITED NATIONS - / MaximsNews Network / 27 August 2008 --  Two months after being seized and held by an unidentified group, Hassan Mohammed Ali was let go today and was doing well. The UN High Commissioner for Refugees director for Somalia is unscathed and will shortly rejoin his family according to the UNHCR center in Mogadishu .

On 21 June, Mr. Ali was taken from his home close to the capital and UNHCR has been working since then to secure his freedom. It has also expressed its appreciation of local groups who joined them in this effort by arranging demonstrations protesting Mr. Ali’s continued captivity. UNHCR added that it is “grateful for all the expressions of public support and solidarity received during the difficult weeks of his captivity.”

Other humanitarian workers continue to be held by armed groups in Somalia and aid personnel continue to be at elevated risk of kidnapping and violence, as has been the case over the last few months.

UNHCR has not been deterred by the kidnapping of its Mogadishu office leader from its operations in Somalia . It is maintaining is initiatives to bring humanitarian assistance to the population, which has been severely affected by years of fighting as well as a long term drought that has driven up food prices.

UN Special Humanitarian Envoy Abdul Aziz Arrukban has arrived in the area and will be going to both Somalia and Kenya . He has visited the Bakool region in south-central Somalia and has also traveled to the Dagahaley camp in north-eastern Kenya , where over 200,000 Somalis are now living after having been forced by violence to leave Somalia .

Mr. Arrukban is concerned about ensuring that the provisions of the Djibouti agreement are implemented.  The agreement is supposed to bring a halt to fighting between the  Transitional Federal Government (TFG) and the rebel Alliance for the Re-liberation of Somalia and was signed last week.

However, there has been violence in Kismayo, in the south of Somalia , and there have been thousands of refugees produced by the fighting. UN Special Representative for Somalia , Ahmedou Ould-Abdallah, has reminded all of the involved parties of the responsibilities placed on them by the Djibouti agreement. The fighting in the port city was over the use of the harbor area, which is important to creating income.

In addition, there were a number of deaths near Mogadishu and Afgoye as the Transitional Federal Government (TFG) has been clashing with the Alliance for the Re-liberation of Somalia. Noncombatants were killed in strikes against buses. The two sides allege that the other was responsible.

Mr. Ould-Abdallah responded that he “call[s] upon all parties to the conflict in Somalia to respect international human rights and humanitarian law, and to stand by their commitments under the Djibouti agreement” and expressed his regret for the death to the families of those killed. He was a major force in the creation of the agreement and is deeply committed to seeing its terms executed.

Mr. Ould-Abdallah has also spoken to the Security Council, emphasizing that bringing security to Somali will require the international community to work together and must act now before to deal with the already serious, and worsening, situation there.  Mr. Ould-Abdallah added later that, “[d]elivery of humanitarian assistance is made difficult because there is no security” and many in the Somali government have not been paid, including police officers and congressmen “which pushes them to blackmail the parliament, president or prime minister.”

--- Caroline Patton

Labels: United Nations, U.N., MaximsNews

 

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