Mogadishu 03,Nov.07 ( Sh.M.Network)-The United Nations' top aid official made a surprise trip to Somalia on Monday, saying the humanitarian response has not been enough to help a country where thousands of civilians have been killed in fighting this year.

John Holmes, the U.N. Undersecretary General for Humanitarian Affairs, was scheduled to meet President Abdullahi Yusuf and new Prime Minister Nur Hassan Hussein during his one-day visit.

There is a (humanitarian) response but it is not adequate. It is terrible over here,'' Holmes told reporters after landing about 50 kilometers (30 miles) southwest of the capital, Mogadishu.
He said aid agencies are finding it ``very hard'' to operate in Somalia because of the violence.

On Sunday, the prime minister said he will try to open a dialogue with Islamists to end the fighting between government troops and Islamist insurgents. Hussein, who formed his Cabinet on Sunday, has vowed to reconcile the nation.

Ethiopia came to the aid of Somalia's government last December to rout the Council of Islamic Courts militia. The Islamic group's fighters have since launched an Iraq-style insurgency, and gunbattles, grenade and mortar attacks have decimated this seaside capital.

Numerous and repeated attempts at dialogue between the insurgents and the government have so far yielded no result.

Hussein, the former head of the Somali Red Crescent Society, took office last month with a pledge to address his nation's major problems within the next two years, with a particular focus on security, reconciliation issues and facilitating humanitarian assistance.

On Sunday, the Elman Human Rights group, a local organization, said it has tallied 5,960 deaths since January in a country where obtaining a reliable death toll is nearly impossible.

Somalia has not had a functioning government since a group of warlords overthrew dictator Mohamed Siad Barre in 1991, then turned their heavily armed supporters on each other.

A contingent of African Union soldiers has failed to stop the violence. Holmes said a U.N. peacekeeping mission could only succeed where there is peace to keep.

What we can do now is plan for a possible mission to Somalia and help the African Union forces in Somalia ... but at the moment it is very hard to even send a fact-finding mission to Mogadishu,'' he said.

Source (Ap)

Shabelle Media Network Somalia
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