US provides $ 16.5 mn aid package to Somalia

Washington, Jan 5: The United States is providing a 16.5 million dollar humanitarian aid package to Somalia to help refugees displaced by fighting between government forces and rival Islamists, U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said.

Rice is also dispatching Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs Jendayi Frazer to the Horn of Africa region for talks aimed at resolving the conflict, which has uprooted tens of thousands of Somali civilians.

Earlier, a State Department spokesman said Frazer would be in Kenya today for a meeting of the US-backed International Contact Group on Somalia and would visit Yemen and Djibouti but had no plans to travel to Somali capital Mogadishu.

The United States is making available 11.5 million dollar in food aid through the World Food Program and an additional 5 million dollar in assistance through other United Nations programs, Rice announced, stressing that was only an initial response to the humanitarian crisis.

''These resources will help an additional 18,000 people displaced by recent floods and conflict. We intend to seek additional substantial assistance to help Somalia with humanitarian, security and reconstruction efforts,'' Rice said yesterday.

The UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNCHR) said last month that between 55,000 and 60,000 people have been uprooted by the recent military escalation in Somalia.

The Somalia Islamic Courts Council, which had taken control of large parts of the country including Mogadishu in recent months, has been driven from its strongholds by government troops and Ethiopian forces.

Somalia has been without effective central government since 1991, when dictator Mohamed Siad Barre was driven from power.

REUTERS

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