ABSTRACT
Somalia is an amalgam of former colonial territories, located along the coast of the Horn of Africa. The Somalis, a homogeneous group of pastoralists, had long roamed the whole Horn of Africa when European colonialism intervened in the latter part of the 19th century. During the same period, the Ogaden was ceded to Ethiopia and the Northern Frontier District became part of Kenya. On 21 October 1969, the military government the Supreme Revolutionary Council (SRC) took over, led by Mohammed Siad Barre. The country became socialist and was renamed the Somali Democratic Republic. Subsequent to the regime of Siad Barre, there has been no stable government. Numerous factions have competed for power under a variety of warlords, the best known of who was Farah Aidid. In mid-November 1996, 26 groups, including all the major factions except that of Aidid, agreed at a meeting sponsored by the OAU to the creation of a National Salvation Council (NSC).
