Somalia to create force to protect aid convoys

MOGADISHU, Somalia - Somalia called on Saturday for the establishment of a new force to protect food aid convoys and camps in this country racked by famine and declared a state of emergency in parts of Mogadishu.

By this past weekend, Islamist rebels had mostly retreated from the capital. Yet, despite the defeat on the battlefield, the threat of suicide bombings and other guerrilla-style attacks remained present.

The government and a 9,000-strong African peacekeeping force has admitted that they did not control all of the capital even after the rebel withdrawal. That has endangered the thousands of Somali refugees who are streaming into Mogadishu in search of food.