NAIROBI, Kenya - The Ethiopian prime minister is urging the international community to create routes for humanitarian aid to reach Somalis in famine-stricken areas.
Meles Zenawi says many areas are still not receiving aid even though they are not under the control of Islamist insurgents. The insurgents have banned many aid agencies from their areas and are fighting the weak UN-backed government. Some militias allied to the government also hold parts of southern Somalia.
Zenawi told journalists Friday that it was important that more food aid be delivered to those areas to minimize refugee flows.
Somalia and Ethiopia share a long and porous border. Ethnic Somali rebels are active in Ethiopia and Ethiopian troops occupied Somalia for two years in 2007.
