Statement by Press Secretary Fitzwater on the Military Airlift for Humanitarian Aid to Somalia

The President has ordered the Department of Defense to offer a U.S. military airlift to transport a U.N. guard force and its associated equipment to Somalia. Authorized by U.N. Security Council Resolution 751, the force of 500 guards will help provide the security needed to deliver food and other relief supplies so desperately needed in Somalia. Now that the relevant Somali factions have agreed with the United Nations, the guards should be transported to Mogadishu as soon as possible.

This offer to the United Nations of airlift assistance is part of a broader U.S. effort to prevent suffering and starvation in Somalia. The total U.S. contribution to Somali relief to date has exceeded $76 million, and we will be intensifying our efforts in the days and weeks to come.