Mogadishu: Somalia’s al-Shabab have denied lifting their ban on Western aid agencies and say UN reports of famine are “sheer propaganda”. The UN on Wednesday said that parts of Somalia were suffering a famine after the worst drought in 60 years. A spokesman for al-Shabab, which has ties to al-Qaeda and controls much of the country, accused aid groups of being political.
Most Western aid agencies quit Somalia in 2009 after al-Shabab threats.
