Islamic Insurgent Group Asks United Nations To Stop Importing Food to Somalia

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By Seyi Oduyela

Published: November 28, 2009

Islamic Insurgent Group Asks United Nations To Stop Importing Food to Somalia

By Seyi Oduyela/Washington, DC

Islamic insurgent group al Shabaab demanded today that the UN’s World Food Programme immediately stop importing relief rations to Somalia. The rebels released a statement claiming the agency is hampering Somalia’s self-sufficiency by bringing food rations from outside the country. Instead the group said the WFP should buy food from Somali farmers to distribute in the country. It gave a deadline of January 1, 2010 for all local business people to terminate contracts with the WFP and for the agency to empty its warehouses of foodstocks.  Al Shabaab currently controls most of the south of Somalia. Pervasive droughts and armed conflict have contributed to an urgent humanitarian crisis. Around 3.76 million Somalis – half the country’s population – are in need of aid, according to experts.

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