Large shipment of food arrives

A US vessel, carrying over 85,000 mt of relief commodities, has arrived in Djibouti - the largest shipment ever to arrive in the port, according to USAID officials. They said the bulk of the consignment is wheat and the unloading - which involves smaller ships - is expected to last until 4 May. According to the Ethiopian newspaper 'The Reporter', over 400 trucks a day are needed to transport the food to Ethiopia. Some 30,000 mt of the
food is expected to replenish Ethiopia's Food Security Reserve, and the remainder is to be distributed by a consortium of NGOs. WFP will also receive 7000 mt to distribute to Sudanese and Somali refugees in the country, USAID officials said.

On Tuesday, the Israeli government flew in 30 mt of food and medicine to Ethiopia in two Israeli Air Force Hercules planes. The deputy director general in the Israeli foreign ministry, Haim Divon, accompanied the planes.

However, a joint statement made by Ethiopian religious leaders appealed to the international community to speed up humanitarian assistance. "We, religious leaders of Ethiopia, are worried that the assistance is not enough and is arriving too late", said the statement, which was posted on the pro-Ethiopian government Walta Information Centre web site.