Agence France-Presse (AFP)
Wednesday, May 02, 2007
Somali ambassador to Ethiopia Abdikarin Farah said the government had not received money from the international community to organise the conference, initially set to begin on April 16.
"The conference should start on June 16 if we have the money. So far we haven't received any. The international community has put nothing on the table yet," Farah told journalists here.
Somali interim President Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed announced in March that the country would hold the conference, involving some 3,000 people from Somalia and abroad, in a bid to stem continuing cycles of violence.
Since the beginning of the year, the Somali capital Mogadishu has seen an upsurge in clashes between Ethiopian forces and Islamist insurgents and clan fighters opposed to their presence.
Ethiopian-Somali troops drove out a powerful Islamist movement from swathes of central and southern Somalia, including Mogadishu, at the start of the year. Farah pleaded for help for tens of thousands of people displaced by recent fighting, which died down last week.
"Somalia is facing a major humanitarian crisis," he said. "The international community has no more excuses (not) to bring in humanitarian aid."
According to the United Nations, around two-thirds of Mogadishu's one million residents have been displaced since February.
Up to 400,000 fled the city, while another 300,000 were displaced within the coastal capital.
Yusuf said the Islamists had been defeated and urged residents to return to their homes, many of which have been reduced to rubble.
"Every Somali today needs some humanitarian help," Farah said.
"In the short term we need direct humanitarian aid, to provide needs for food, water and shelter against the rains, and medical supplies including doctors."
"We need all the help the international community can give us."
Source: AFP, May 02, 2007