Arab, African aid lacks coordination, says Somali leader
KHARTOUM: Somalia’s President Sharif Sheikh Ahmed said Arab and African aid for his famine-ravaged country lacks coordination, Sudanese state media reported on Tuesday.
His comments came during a visit to Sudan one week ahead of a donor conference for Somalia’s drought victims to be hosted by the African Union in Addis Ababa.
Arab and African support for alleviating the famine in Somalia was "good but lacks coordination," he said, quoted by Sudan’s state news agency SUNA after a meeting with President Omar Al-Bashir late on Monday.
He was speaking at the start of a two-day visit to Khartoum to drum up support for his country, which is at the epicenter of the Horn of Africa famine that has already killed tens of thousands of Somalis.
His meeting with Bashir focused on ways to coordinate the relief efforts, said Ahmed.
Next week’s conference in Ethiopia is to bring together African heads of state, members of regional economic blocs and international organizations.
The United Nations said on Friday that $2.48 billion was required to reach those suffering in the region.
On top of chronic food shortages, Somalia has been wracked by lawlessness and violence since longtime leader Mohammed Siad Barre was ousted in a 1991 coup, with much of the country now controlled by Al-Qaeda-linked rebel group Al-Shebab. –AFP
