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Aid agencies welcome, says Puntland

    NAIROBI

    Staff from UN agencies, the EU, and international NGOs, who were evacuated from Bosaso, the commercial capital of the self-declared autonomous region of Puntland, are welcome to return, a senior Puntland official told IRIN on Wednesday.

    The staff members were evacuated in early May for security reasons. A circular issued by the administration of Col Abdullahi Yusuf, and made available to IRIN on 9 May warned aid agency staff "to stay away from Puntland of Somalia until further notice".

    Isma'il Warsame, Abdullahi Yusuf's chief of cabinet, told IRIN on Wednesday that the circular was not intended to keep aid agencies away, but to give the authorities "time to put our house in order". "Once law and order has been restored to all of Puntland, they are welcome to come back," he said.

    Isma'il said an invitation had been sent to all heads of agencies working in the region to come to Bosaso on 8 June to meet Abdullahi Yusuf. Following these talks, staff members could return, he stated.

    "We are in communication with the authorities [in Puntland] to arrange humanitarian access as quickly as possible," humanitarian sources in the Kenyan capital, Nairobi, told IRIN.

    The sources said there were worrying reports of cholera in the area, and because the humanitarian agencies had a range of important activities to carry out, they were ready to return as soon as possible.

    This article was produced by IRIN News while it was part of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Please send queries on copyright or liability to the UN. For more information: https://shop.un.org/rights-permissions

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