IPS:Somalia, general aideed reported kil'
Winslow L. Sargeant
/* ---------- "SOMALIA: GENERAL AIDEED REPORTED KI" ---------- */
Copyright Inter Press Service 1992, all rights reserved. Permission to re-
print within 7 days of original date only with permission from 'newsdesk'.
Title: SOMALIA: GENERAL AIDEED REPORTED KILLED
nairobi, jun 10 (ips/pamphil h. kweyuh) -- general mohamed farah
aideed, leader of a breakaway faction of the united somali
congress, who has been locked in a battle for the control of
mogadishu was wednesday reported killed.
a spokesperson of the marehan clan in somalia, col hassan ali
bu'ul, told ips here that aideed was killed tuesday in the damas
area, 40 kms from el wak town on the kenyan border.
bu'ul said the general was gunned down along with three of
his aides from the hawiye clan, all with rank of colonel. he
named them as shabel, mohammed ji'ale and abdi osman.
''the hawiye bandits were recently removed from from gedo
province (now under control of the somali national front sfn),
after a month-long occupation, by maheran fighters'', he said.
the front's vice-chair, dr mohammed dirrir gulled, told
journalists here that an estimated 1.5 million people in gedo
province which borders on kenya were faced with starvation.
''the hawiye bandits looted all food and property, blew up
roofs, raped women -- in general they left behind utter
destruction (in gedo province)'', said gulled.
''without food and shelter, lives for the people of gedo has
become unbearable. it is so serious that we hereby appeal to the
united nations, the organisation of african unity (oau), the
arab league and friends worldwide to come to our rescue'', he
said.
the front also asked the international community to shun
international aid agencies which have been portraying somalia as
''unpenetratable''.
''only mogadishu area and parts of the central province under
control of the main warlords, aideed and ali mahdi mohammed, are
unsafe for aid agencies'', said gulled.
the snf team said their organisation believes in peace
through negotiation and one somalia. ''only the northerners in
hargeisa are interested in a country of their own, all the other
somali factions are for one somalia'', he said.
''all the food that has been dispatched to somalia along with
all other supplies have only been reaching less than a quarter
of the population in and around mogadishu,'' said gulled.
(more/ips)
somalia: general (2)
the somali problem, the snf vice-chair told ips, was the
creation of the main forces which overthrew siad barre -- ali
mahdi and gen aideed.
''they used clan issues to overthrow barre but it is the same
clan issue that stirred too many somalis to form tribal armies
that are now fighting against each other,'' nor ali hassan, also
a vice-chair in the snf interim committee, said.
the snf leadership hit out at the main factions in control
of mogadishu, arguing that they were nothing short of ''power
hungry and ambitious grabbers, who do not believe in democracy
and respect for other people's opinion''.
the snf claims to be a non-clan based fighting and political
unit, believing in solving the somalia crisis through dialogue.
according to its leadership, their homeland, gedo province,
is an inter-clan settlement, unlike some provinces in somalia
that are inhabited by single clans.
''our opinion of the current crisis in somalia is that it's a
creation of the forces which overthrew barre. instead of seeking
peace and reconcilliation after the dictator's overthrowal, they
instead unleashed anarchy, looting, killing and murdering
innocent people indiscriminately'', ali hassan told ips.
the snf is led by gen mohammed ahmed warsame, with dr. gulled
and noor ali hassan as interim vice-chair.
''we had to nominate new leaders to cope with the current
crisis and institute emergency action to save our people. new
elections for a permanent team to negotiate a settlement to our
crisis will be elected within the next four to five months'',
gulled added. (end/ips/phk/ar/apc/92)