U.N. Chief Seeks Cease-Fire in Somalia Clan War
The U.N. secretary general met separately Thursday with delegations from two warring factions in Somalia to try to halt the clan war that engulfs Mogadishu, capital of the Horn of Africa nation.
U.N. officials said that Secretary General Boutros Boutros-Ghali met first with representatives of interim President Ali Mahdi Mohamed and then with those of his archrival, Gen. Mohamed Farrah Aidid.
Details were not disclosed and neither side commented.
Boutros-Ghali is pushing for an immediate cease-fire to allow relief agencies to enter the East African nation of 8.4 million people. Fighting there has caused more than 20,000 casualties and left more than 400,000 people homeless since mid-November.
The U.N. Security Council has imposed an arms embargo on Somalia. The country’s interim government wants U.N. peacekeepers to be sent. Aidid’s side opposes that plan.
Mahdi was named president after President Siad Barre’s ouster a year ago, ending two decades of rule. Aidid began seeking to unseat Mahdi over the summer, and intense fighting broke out in November.
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