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Somali militants maintain aid ban and reject famine
 [Dawn] "Those earlier banned groups are not welcome to serve in our area of control," Shebab front man Sheikh Ali Mohamud Rage said in a broadcast on the myrmidon radio Al Furqaan radio. The Al Qaeda inspired cut-throats since 2009 banned several aid agencies including the UN World Food Programme, although the agency has continued to send relief to other parts of the country out of myrmidon control. Easy enough. They don't want aid, don't send them aid. The hardline cut-throats also dismissed the declaration made by the UN earlier this week that there is famine in two regions of southern Somalia under myrmidon control. "There is drought in Somalia but not famine -- what is declared by the UN is 100 percent false," Rage said. "The declaration of famine is political, and is a lie with hidden agendas," he added, admitting only that there is "a shortage of rain." "But that's not a drought, dammit!" The Shebab appealed for help earlier this month, saying it would lift a two-year-old ban on foreign aid groups so they could help Somalis suffering from a severe drought. A Shebab official earlier this week had welcomed the famine declaration. Posted by: Fred 2011-07-23 |
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