Shabaab al-Mujahideen Threatens the UN World Food Programme (WFP)
By Evan Kohlmann
The NEFA Foundation has obtained a communiqué from Shabaab al-Mujahideen threatening the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP). According to the statement, “the bringing of immense quantities of free food rations, and specifically during the harvest season, has been devastating to the agriculture industry in Somalia and has greatly discouraged the Somali people from the agricultural trade. In addition, it has become a barrier in the road to a self sufficient nation.” Shabaab warned that the WFP “must immediately refrain from bringing food rations from outside of Somalia and rather purchase food from Somali farmers and then that food will be distributed to the needy in Somalia…All local businesspersons contracted by the WFP must terminate their contract by January 1, 2010. The WFP must completely empty its storage warehouses and food stocks by January 1, 2010.”
The complete text of the Shabaab al-Mujahideen ultimatum to the World Food Programme can be accessed via the NEFA Foundation website.
