FAMINE STRICKEN SOMALIS FACE HUGE CRISIS WITHOUT RAIN

From Khairulanuar Yahaya

MOGADISHU, Sept 3 (Bernama) -- Famine stricken Somalis face a huge crisis
two months down the road if there is no sight of rain and if the international
community continues to ignore their plight, an official here said.

Somalia's Disaster Management Agency coordinator Abdul Hakim Ahmed Guled
urged the international community to channel immediate relief in the form of
drinking water, food and medical aid to help in the critical situation.

"If we don't get rain in October, which is the usual time that we get
rainfall, it'll be a disaster.

"If that happens, I think nobody can help us. The help that we need now is
to enable us to save the lives of tomorrow and those of today," he said when met
by the Putera 1Malaysia Club mission at a temporary shelter for famine victims
in Badbado near here.

Abdul Hakim said the people of Somalia are relying on international
assistance including from countries such as Malaysia which had played an
important role in the nation's development in the past.

He said it was imperative to attend to the victims who were largely farmers
and from outside Mogadishu, as they formed the backbone of Somalia's economy.

"The famine refugees should not be in the capital for a lengthy period," he
said.