Path: bloom-picayune.mit.edu!snorkelwacker.mit.edu!americast.com!americast.com!americast-post Newsgroups: americast.twt.news From: americast-post@AmeriCast.Com Organization: American Cybercasting Approved: americast-post@AmeriCast.com Subject: Rescue ship races to aid of Somalis Date: Mon, 16 Nov 92 17:03:26 EST Message-ID: \SE A;WORLD \SS (WS) \HD Rescue ship races to aid of Somalis \BY ASSOCIATED PRESS \DT SAN'A', Yemen SAN'A', Yemen (AP) - A French vessel loaded with emergency supplies of food and water raced yesterday to aid about 3,000 starving Somalis aboard a ship in the Arabian Sea. But the rescue ship was not expected to link up with the refugee-laden cargo vessel, headed to Yemen, until today. Sources in Yemen who spoke on condition of anonymity said they feared as many as 100 children may already have died of starvation or thirst. Meanwhile, in the Somali capital, Mogadishu, a clan leader continued to demand that United Nations troops withdraw from the international airport, which they began guarding last Tuesday to protect planes carrying relief food and medicine. About 1,000 supporters of Gen. Mohammed Farah Aidid, the warlord whose forces control much of southern Mogadishu, marched through the city shouting slogans such as, "We don't want foreign troops." Unidentified gunmen from another clan opened fire on the demonstration near the airport, but no injuries were reported. Thousands of Somalis have fled clan fighting and a famine in their country that has killed at least 300,000 people since January. Two million more are said to be on the verge of starvation. A steady flow of refugees in small boats has headed north to Yemen, where U.N. officials have fed and sheltered them. In Geneva, a spokeswoman for the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees said the captain of the ship carrying the latest group of Somalis made a desperate appeal for water in a radio conversation with a French plane. Spokeswoman Sylvana Foa said the 1,600-ton M.V. Sumaal was "crammed" with people and was running out of fuel. "There is a serious sanitation problem," she said. "The ship is overloaded and it's going real slow." Yemeni authorities have agreed to accept the thousands of refugees who have fled across the sea, provided the U.N. refugee agency takes care of them. There are an estimated 62,000 Somali refugees in Yemen. Yemen initially turned away the refugees, and in June a ship laden with 3,300 Somalis ran aground on Yemen's coast. At least 150 refugees died, either from starvation and dehydration or from jumping the ship to swim ashore. Ms. Foa said she was worried that when the French rescue boat, the Commandant Ducuing, reaches the Sumaal, refugees might leap overboard to reach it. The Sumaal left Merka, 75 miles south of Mogadishu, about five days ago with no food or water. It was heading for the southern Yemeni port of Aden, a sea journey of about 1,300 miles. In France, a Defense Ministry spokesman said the Commandant Ducuing left Djibouti yesterday morning and should reach the refugee ship this morning. It was reportedly carrying medicine, 5,000 gallons of water and 6,000 military ready-to-eat-meals. This article is copyright 1992 The Washington Times. Redistribution to other sites is not permitted except by arrangement with American Cybercasting Corporation. For more information, send-email to usa@AmeriCast.COM