WASHINGTON — The Obama administration is moving toward easing anti-terrorism restrictions in Somalia that have hampered delivery of aid to famine-stricken parts of the country, officials said Monday.
The shift reflects the administration’s alarm about the drought in East Africa. About 2.2 million of the 3.7 million people affected by famine live in parts of southern Somalia ruled by al-Shabab, an Islamist extremist group linked to al-Qaeda.
Under current restrictions, U.S.-funded groups could face prosecution if they pay “taxes” or tolls demanded by al-Shabab on food shipments.According to experts on Somalia, if regulations are relaxed, it is inevitable some aid will be siphoned off by al-Shabab.
But with thousands of villagers, many of them children, having died of hunger, the need to lift restrictions may be more pressing.
The Washington Post
