Somaliland Call’s for Help with Drought

Hargeysa, Somaliland, 29 Feb 2008 - The government of Somaliland has asked for aid in the face of its continuing drought. Vice President Ahmed Yusuf Yasin has called on rich countries to send help to avert a disaster.

Eastern Somaliland is ravaged by drought and acute water shortages, the vice president of the Somali republic said on Tuesday.

Ahmed Yusuf Yasin urged rich nations to send relief to avert "a calamity" and he called on his countrymen to pray.

"I call on the people to pray individually and in mosques for the next eight days," he told a news conference.

"I also recommend they gather in public, if it doesn't rain, with all schools closed and work stopped for general prayer on the ninth day."

Yasin also ordered all relevant government departments to report on the full extent of the crisis before Friday.

Somaliland broke away from the rest of Somalia in 1991 when warlords toppled military dictator Mohamed Siad Barre.

Source: IOL