The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) said today it has suspended aid shipments to lawless Somalia after gunmen hijacked a vessel it chartered and demanded a $500,000 ransom.
"WFP has suspended all shipments to Somalia due to insecurity of the waters along the east coast," a WFP spokeswoman said. "This decision will be reviewed on the release of the vessel," she added.
On average, WFP provides 3,000 tonnes of aid a month to 275,000 people in the Horn of Africa country. It said it only has two weeks' worth of food inside Somalia.
Militias captured the MV Semlovand its 10 crew members a week ago while it was en route to the northern port of Bossaso. WFP said a delegation from Somalia's new transitional government had travelled to the region from Mogadishu on Monday to negotiate with local elders and militias.
The cargo of 850 tonnes of rice, donated by Japan and Germany, was destined for thousands of Somalis hit by the December 26th tsunami that swept across the Indian Ocean after an undersea earthquake off north Indonesia.
Insecurity has been synonymous with Somalia since warlords overran the country in 1991, carving it into fiefdoms after ousting dictator Mohamed Siad Barre.