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Obasanjo meets warring groups

[Kenya] Somali refugees wait at a food distribution centre at Ifo camp in the Dadaab area of eastern Kenya, 16 September 2006. John Nyaga/IRIN
Women and children have been most vulnerable to civil strife in Somalia
President Olusegun Obasanjo began meetings on Wednesday in Abuja with warring groups of the oil-rich southeastern town of Warri in an effort to end days of intercommunal violence that has left at least 200 dead, AFP reported. The meeting was attended by representatives of Ijaw, Itsekiri and Urhobo communities who have been battling over the location of a local government office. The site of this office “promises jobs, amenities and money”, AFP said. Obasanjo’s talks with the community leaders came ahead of his planned visit to Warri which has now been called off, the BBC reported. The two-day meeting Obasanjo was due to attend in Warri on Thursday, on the problems of the Niger Delta, had been postponed indefinitely because of the fighting, Reuters said quoting organisers.

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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