In this issue:

In this issue:
* AIDEED MEETS REPRESENTATIVES OF THE GROUP OF 12 IN KENYA
* MAKING MONEY ON MINES
* BOAT REFUGEES, AGAIN...
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S O M A L I A N E W S U P D A T E

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Vol 3, No January 3, 1994. ISSN 1103-1999

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Somalia News Update is published irregularly via electronic mail and
fax. Questions can be directed to [email protected] or
to fax number +46-18-151160. All SNU marked material is free to
quote as long as the source is clearly stated.
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AIDEED MEETS REPRESENTATIVES OF THE GROUP OF 12 IN KENYA

(SNU, Uppsala, January 3) - The foreign affairs secretary for Aideed's
Somalia National Alliance, Issa Mohamed Siad yesterday told Reuters "secret
talks" were being held between Aideed and representatives of the Group of
12, a coalition of factions headed Ali Mahdi Mohamed.
He said the talks were being held in secret sponsored by Kenyan
President Daniel Arap Moi at his residence in Nakuru, 160 km north-west of
Nairobi.
A previous round of talks between representatives of the SNA and the
Group of 12 collapsed in the Ethiopian capital of Addis Ababa in December
and since then Aideed has been searching for ways to get back to Somalia.
Only two days ago an anonymous SNA representative in Nairobi told reporters
that it was the security problem in Somali airports that was the main
obstacle for Aideed's return.
Issa welcomed the tone of a New Year speech by Ali Mahdi in which he
called on "our brother, the SNA, and their supporters to be positive and
flexible...and to participate in the formation of the assemblies."
"We are ready to sit down with the other factions and form some sort of
administration or government," Issa told Reuters.

MAKING MONEY ON MINES

(SNU, Uppsala, December 30, 1993) - A spokesman for UNOSOM II
reported today that preliminary negotiations on de-mining projects
were being held with various Somali groups, among them a company in
the Garbahary-Luuq area, and with private firms or authorities in
Sablaale, North Mogadishu, Galkayo and Belet Weyne. The spokesman
said it was hoped that the de-mining projects would be undertaken by
Somalis themselves. He stressed, however, that UNOSOM II would
ensure that prospective de-mining enterprises had the necessary
training and expertise before they were awarded any de-mining
contracts.
What UNOSOM does not seem to have calculated with is that this
easily could make the use of mines doubly profitable. Once they have
served their military purpose, the militia who lay out the mines can
present UNOSOM with a "de-mining project", remove the mines, and be
paid for it by UNOSOM. The continued use of mines is a major problem
in the Somali civil war and successful de-mining requires some amount
of cooperation with the persons who planted them. However, by
encouraging "local companies" to start their own de-mining projects,
UNOSOM may have just have encouraged more mines to be put in the
Somali soil.

BOAT REFUGEES, AGAIN...

(SNU, Uppsala, January 3) - Reuters reported on December 29 that more than
150 Somali refugees had spent their fifth day stranded on a ship off Mombasa
with Kenyan authorities refusing to allow them to land. A day later, after
pressure from Bart Leerschool, UNHCR representative in the port, the
authorities allowed the refugees to leave the ship.
Although the appalling conditions in the Kenyan refugee camps
constitute a discouragement, some Somalis still favour an uncertain future
in those camps before the turmoil in their own country. During first half of
1993 there was a continued increase of refugees seeking to return to
Somalia. However, after the American administration decided to pull out its
troops by March 31 this year and other nations followed their example, there
are now several indications that the stream of refugees might be turning. In
late November eighty-six Somali refugees were stranded for a week last month
on a ship before Kenya granted them temporary asylum.

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SNU is an entirely independent newsletter devoted to critical
analysis of the political and humanitarian developments in Somalia
and Somaliland. SNU is edited and published by Dr. Bernhard Helander,
Uppsala University, Sweden. SNU is produced with support from the
Scandinavian Institute of African Studies, Uppsala, Sweden.
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