Weekly Bulletin of IRIN Radio Service (June 20th, 2002) UN CONCERN OVER HUMANITARIAN SITUATION The United Nations Security Council has expressed deep concern over the humanitarian situation in Somalia following fighting in the south of the country. In a press statement on Tuesday, it called on all Somali parties to meet their obligation to guarantee safe access to relief agencies. The Council said its members were particularly worried about the situation in northern parts of the Gedo Region, southwestern Somalia. It said that successive waves of fighting had caused casualties, large-scale internal displacement and outflow of refugees, while also disrupting the provision of humanitarian assistance to the population. The statement said Council members were concerned over the presence of refugees along the border, and urged neighbouring states to live up to their international obligations to move them away from border areas. It also expressed concern over the continued flow of weapons to Somalia from other countries and stressed that a ban on Somalia's livestock exports had severely affected the humanitarian situation. It urged Gulf states, which imposed the ban in 2000 due to fears of Rift Valley fever, to take active steps toward resumption of livestock imports from Somalia.