We have the UN
Sir: The Secretary-General of War on Want, George Galloway, asserts that the Ethiopian government is using food aid to feed its troops and that food aid donated by the West is going astray (`The Mengistu famine', 1 December). This is not the first time that such allegations have been made and on each and every occasion when they have been investigated the allegations have been found to be without substance.
War on Want also asks that there should be a new international commission to supervise and control the relief offered but we already have this. It is called the UN and, some weeks ago, the UN Secretary- General specifically appointed Assistant Secretary-General, Kurt Jansson, to super- vise the relief operation and to co-ordinate information from donor countries and agencies. If there is any new suggestion of food aid being abused then Kurt Jansson is the man to whom this should be referred. Giving humanitarian assistance to any country where there are civil disturbances will always be complicated but we must not let those complexities hinder our getting help to all the most needy parts of Ethiopia.
Tony Baldry
House of Commons, London SW1
Previous page
