SOMALIA HOLDS UN ENVOY FOR MOSQUE RELIEF

Security forces of the Ethiopia-backed interim Somali government arrested Idris Mohamed Osman, the World Food Programme (WFP)’s top official in Somalia for distributing food aid to hungry Somalis through mosques. He was taken at gunpoint from the UN compound in the capital Mogadishu. About 60 armed members of the National Security Service stormed the UN compound and detained Osman. UN officials said he was arrested for distributing aid to hungry Somalis through local mosques in the violence-wracked capital. His detention came two days after the agency resumed distributing food to 75,600 people in Mogadishu through 42 mosques. Although Somalia is almost completely Muslim, the transitional government views mosques, particularly in Mogadishu, with suspicion. The arrest of UN official was made despite the clearance of the plan to use mosques as distribution points provided by the regional governor. Somalia has been ravaged by violence since Ethiopian and interim government troops ousted the Islamic Court that controlled large parts of the country early this year. The country has plunged into a deadly vicious cycle of violence which has so far killed up to 1,300 civilians and displaced more than 400,000, according to Human Rights Watch.