_WORLD WATCH______________________________
____________________ Somalia ________________

A country near chaos
Last-minute negotiations falter
With the government of Somalia close to collapse, the leaders of contending political factions have gathered in Kenya for last-minute negotiations, chaired by Kenya’s President Daniel Arap Moi.

Earlier in November, the Somali parliament passed a vote of no-confidence in the government, ousting the prime minister and his cabinet. That vote was a possibly fatal blow to the efforts of interim President Abdulqassam Salad Hassan to establish a stable regime.

After years of fighting among rival warlords, Somalia now has virtually no central government. Wracked by inflation, mismanagement, and corruption, the failed government had been unable to address the needs of the impoverished populace. There are now an estimated 750,000 displaced people in Somalia, of whom roughly half are living as refugees in neighboring African countries. To complicate matters still further, Somalia has been listed by the US as one of the countries that harbors terrorists.

“The suffering of the women and children in Somalia is immense,” Kenya’s President Arap Moi reminded his Somali guests. “I know they are waiting anxiously for the outcome of this meeting. You cannot afford to let humanity down.”

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