African Union Somalia conference postponed

The African Union has postponed until the end of August an aid conference for the drought- and famine-ridden Horn of Africa. It had been due to start next week.

Meanwhile, The International Committee of the Red Cross on Thurssday announced plans to more than double its budget to feed starving Somalis, particularly thousands of children suffering from a confluence of drought, violence and internal politics.
Relief agencies say at least 12 million people in the region are in need of food aid, including more than 3 million in Somalia who need immediate help to prevent them from dying.
One problem is that the Islamic militant group Al-Shabab, which controls much of southern Somalia, insists there is no famine and has banned all aid groups but the International Committee of the Red Cross.

United States Secretary of State Hillary Clinton appealed Thursday for Islamic militants in Somalia to allow aid groups unrestricted access to areas of the country under their control to distribute food to hundreds of thousands of people threatened by famine.

“Al-Shabab are preventing assistance to the most vulnerable populations in Somalia, namely children, including infants, and girls and women who are attempting to bring themselves and those children to safety, to the potential of being fed before more deaths occur,'' Clinton said.

Clinton also announced that Jill Biden, wife of Vice President Joe Biden, would lead a U.S. fact-finding mission to neighboring Kenya to inspect relief efforts.

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