Somali Foreign Minister Ismail Mahmoud Hurrah Friday urged fellow members of the 22-strong Arab League to deliver emergency financial aid to his government, which he said was pledged at the Arab summit.
Arab leaders meeting at a summit in Amman this week promised to give Somalia 450 million dollars in financial assistance to rebuild the war-shattered country, Hurrah told the Jordan Times.
"But many more billions will be needed," Hurrah was quoted as saying, adding that the Arab leaders did not specify how Somalia would receive the aid.
"We will go on a tour to all the (Arab) capitals for that resolution to be effective and to be carried out," Hurrah added.
A final declaration adopted by Arab leaders at the end of the summit "welcomes the efforts taken by Somali leaders to carry on and complete efforts to strengthen unification.”
The Arab leaders also "pledge to extend support for Somalia's security and stability," the document said, without making any specific financial commitment or saying how support will be delivered.
Hurrah said Somalia, one of the poorest countries in the world, was hoping the Arabs will be generous in view of Somalia's steadfast support of Arab policy on the Palestinian cause and Israel.
Somalia "came to the assistance of Egypt when the problem was between Egypt and Israel and cut all diplomatic ties with Israel," he said
On Tuesday, Somali President Abdulkassim Salat Hassan called for Arab intervention to stop Ethiopian "aggression" that he claimed is aimed at overthrowing his transitional government.
Salat also urged Arab states to extend "large assistance" to help Somalia rebuild itself and end 10 years of violence between competing warlords during which Somalia has gone without a central government -- AMMAN (AFP)
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