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UN 'not exaggerating crisis in Somalia'

Friday, December 21, 2007

 

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The United Nations has rejected Ethiopian claims that it is exaggerating the severity of the crisis in Somalia.

 

The UN says fighting between insurgents and Ethiopian-backed government forces in the capital, Mogadishu, has forced 600,000 people to flee the capital.

 

Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi says that is just hype.

 

But UN special envoy for Somalia Ahmedou Ould Abdallah says he trusts the word of aid agencies on the ground.

 

"I believe that what my colleagues from humanitarian [organisations] do is usually accurate, though in Somalia we have no international presence to attest the accuracy of these figures," he said.

 

Source: ABC/BBC, Friday, December 21, 2007