EC advises NGOs to temporarily withdraw staff

The European Commission (EC) has recommended to international NGOs whose operations in Somalia it funds to temporarily withdraw staff, an EC source told IRIN. The recommendation to either "withdraw or reduce expatriate staff" was given to the NGOS on Wednesday "as a precautionary measure until the situation becomes more clear", said the source. International NGO sources told IRIN that there was concern that any action taken by the US government in reaction to the New York and Washington terrorist attacks of last week "may create unstable conditions in Somalia", a mainly Muslim country. "Our hope is that this will be over-precautious and that nothing will happen." All EC-funded projects would remain active and be carried out by national staff, one source said. There was, however, a worry within the NGO community that EC-funded ECHO flights, which transport the bulk of humanitarian and medical provisions to Somalia, might be suspended. "If that were to happen, our services to the needy people of Somalia will be seriously affected," another of the NGO sources told IRIN. The EC source said ECHO flights were still operating and "will continue to fly, and there are no plans to ground them". Most of the NGOs IRIN spoke to expressed the hope that the withdrawal of staff would be of short duration.