BACK FROM SOMALIA, EMERSON URGES A STRONGER U.N. MANDATE

WASHINGTON -- The United Nations needs to strengthen its commitment to providing security for relief workers in Somalia, says U.S. Rep. Bill Emerson.

The Cape Girardeau Republican, who just returned from a fact-finding mission to the African nation, said Tuesday that U.N. troops are handcuffed because they lack authority to fight back against "bandits and bullies" who hinder relief efforts.

Emerson described the Somalia power structure as "complete chaos."

"Warlords, thugs and anyone else who has a gun, including children, think they're in control," said the 8th District congressman.

"It's not a problem of lack of food, medical aid or people willing to administer the humanitarian relief efforts; Somalia has a problem of these bandits and bullies intercepting and circumventing the U.N.'s efforts."

Somalia suffers from the twin crisis of famine and war. Nations of the world have responded with humanitarian aid, but efforts in dispensing this relief are hampered by warring factions within the nation. The United Nations dispatched peacekeeping forces to assist.

However, Emerson says the U.N. forces must be authorized to fight back when fired upon in order for aid to reach regions where it is most needed.

Emerson is ranking Republican on the House Select Committee on Hunger. He served as vice chairman of the congressional delegation that spent seven days in Somalia, a trip that ended Saturday.

At a Capitol news conference Tuesday, Emerson joined a number of private volunteer organizations in calling for increased actions to empower U.N. troops with necessary orders to provide protection for emergency relief supplies.

The Republican lawmaker supports the U.N.'s role in the Somalia effort.

"It is tragic seeing the Somali people, especially the children, not being helped when you know the resources are in place to do so," said Emerson. "Time is of the essence. Too many lives have already been lost and thousands more become at risk every day."

According to relief organizations involved in the Somalia operation, it is becoming increasingly difficult to work under attacks by bandits and thugs. Some say they may have to pull out unless the U.N. provides better security.

InterAction, an umbrella group of private humanitarian agencies, charged Tuesday that the U.N. has allowed itself to be taken hostage by the clans and warlords who dominate various parts of the ravaged African nation.

"It's time for governments and the United Nations to take Somalia seriously," said John Hammock of Oxfam America, one of more than two dozen organizations providing aid in Somalia.

Some 3,500 U.N. troops have been authorized to provide security for relief shipments but have not been deployed because of inability to negotiate agreements with the lawless factions.

"At a time when Americans are having Thanksgiving, sitting down to turkey dinners, we are asking sufficient security so we can get a bowl of rice ... to the people of Somalia so they will not starve to death," Hammock said.

The call for immediate security help, and U.S. pressure on the U.N. to provide it, came as a U.N.-chartered ship carrying food was hit by an artillery shell at it approached the harbor at Mogadishu, the Somali capital. The vessel turned back to sea.

Aid shipments routinely are hijacked by bandits who operate freely in a country where civil authority has collapsed. On Monday, a band of teen-agers armed with antiaircraft guns halted a U.N. plane on a runway and robbed the relief workers on board.

The aid groups said the security problems cannot wait for a new administration to take power in Washington. Estimates are that some tens of thousands will die by the end of the year unless basic food, shelter and medical care can get through.

"If there is no security in Somalia, then relief organizations will not be able to continue to perform their functions," Hammock said after a news conference at the Capitol.

Some information in this story was provided by The Associated Press.