By SARAH CHILDRESS
NAIROBI, Kenya -- A United Nations group is investigating whether three Somali contractors it uses to ship food aid to people in the war-ravaged country are misappropriating aid and providing financial assistance to insurgent groups, according to U.N. officials.
The U.N. Monitoring Group on Somalia opened its probe in July, the officials said. The U.N. World Food Program said it is also investigating allegations regarding diversion of food assistance in the country.
A February U.N. internal report, written by U.N. officials and approved by several of its agencies, including the WFP, said the food-distribution system in Somalia posed "considerable risk to the reputation and effectiveness of the organization," according to a copy reviewed by The Wall Street Journal. The WFP declined to comment on the report.
The WFP says its operation in Somalia, one of the agency's largest, reaches 3.5 million people. Officials from the U.N., African Union and Somali government say they are increasingly concerned about the dependability of some of the contractors used by the WFP, which handed out $35 million in food-aid distribution contracts in Somalia last year. It now uses 29 contractors.
The U.K. says it is considering withdrawing financial support for the Somalia program because of concerns about food distribution; the U.S. has also threatened to do so, according to a U.N. official close to the situation and a Western diplomat with knowledge of the donors' concerns.
British officials said they are waiting for the outcome of the WFP's investigation before deciding whether to suspend funding.
USAID, the U.S. agency that gives international humanitarian assistance, is the biggest provider of funding to the WFP's Somalia program. A U.S. official said the government "has been reviewing our policies and procedures for the provision of humanitarian assistance in Somalia," including ensuring that the donations comply with U.S. antiterrorism laws.
The U.S. has given more than $124 million in food aid for Somalia so far in the 2009 fiscal year, according to the U.S. official.
Peter Smerdon, a spokesman for the WFP in Nairobi, said the WFP inspector-general's office, which is separate from the Monitoring Group on Somalia, is investigating allegations regarding diversion of food assistance.
Denise Brown, the WFP's deputy country director for Somalia, said she wasn't aware of the Monitoring Group's probe and therefore couldn't comment on it. "We are, I think, quite happy, or satisfied, with the current system we are using," she said.
According to U.N. officials, investigators from the U.N. Monitoring Group on Somalia are looking at Abukar Adani, a Somali businessman, along with some family members and a network of companies they control. Investigators are also looking at Abdulkadir Eno, a Somali-American businessman with interests in Somali ports, and Somali businessman Mohamed Deylaf, these officials said. All three deny misappropriating food aid.
Mr. Adani's son, Abdulkadir Abukar Omar Adani, the managing partner of the family's main trading company, Swift Traders East Africa Co., said the Adani family supports the current government. But he said that to transport food in the country his company is sometimes forced to do business with groups such as al Shabab, the main Islamist insurgency group, which is battling the government and controls much of southern Somalia.
Mr. Adani said representatives from his company negotiate with these groups and sometimes are required to pay them. "Sometimes they impose on you," he said. Payments are part of doing business, and shouldn't be interpreted as a sign of support for the rebel group, he said. "We are not involved in any politics," he said.
Mr. Deylaf said he hasn't provided support to insurgents and supports the government.
Mr. Eno also denied supporting insurgent groups and said he has a financial interest in backing the government, which controls just a portion of the capital, Mogadishu. "Our company believes that once peace and stability are attained in Somalia, then our business activities would be sustainable," he said.
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