Fleeing Somalis battling hunger, cholera, UN says

ROME, May 3 (Reuters) Many of the 365,000 Somalis who fled the capital Mogadishu over the past several months are still battling hunger and even cholera, the UN World Food Programme said today.

But a lull in heavy fighting and help from the government would allow the WFP to more than triple the number of people receiving emergency food rations in the coming days, it said.

''We have to help these people now. Women, children and the elderly are sheltering from the rain under trees and cholera is spreading,'' WFP Executive Director Josette Sheeran said in a statement.

The UN agency said it delivered food to 32,000 people west of Mogadishu last week. It hoped to reach at least 100,000 people soon, including 42,000 people in Merka, who were due receive food today.

It also planned to deliver aid to previously inaccessible areas. It cited Qoryoley, west of Mogadishu, and Brava, some 220 kilometres to the south.

''Many people left the capital with virtually nothing but the clothes on their backs. They are now trickling back only to find their homes in ruins.'' A WFP official said obstacles to delivering aid in Mogadishu included violence in the capital and the need to finalise arrangements for eventual food distribution.

The battle for control of Mogadishu has killed at least 1,300 people in recent weeks and turned parts of the coastal city into a ghost town.

The government, established in 2004, is hoping to restore central rule to the Horn of Africa country for the first time since warlords toppled dictator Mohamed Siad Barre in 1991.

Since announcing victory over the insurgents, the government has ordered civilians to disarm and deployed troops to sweep rebel areas for insurgents and looters.

REUTERS SG RAI1830