Fears of an imminent American air strike is gripping Somalia after reports that military aircraft have been conducting surveillance flights over the country, local sources told IRIN on Tuesday.

Traditional elders of the self-declared autonomous region of Puntland, northeastern Somalia, have so far been unable to resolve the political impasse in Garowe, the regional capital, local sources told IRIN on Wednesday.

Somalia is on the verge of an economic collapse unparalleled in modern history, the United Nations Humanitarian Coordinator for Somalia said on Monday.

The Deputy High Commissioner of the United Nations refugee agency (UNHCR) has said that in the event that the United States launches any attacks on Somalia as part of its war on terrorism, the agency has developed contingency plans for coping with any resultant refugee exodus.

This is a two year contract, renewable. This post will take lead responsibility for managing and developing a project which will address women's health issues through an interactive radio magazine programme. Operating from an office/studio in Hargeisa, Somaliland the project is funded for five years and builds on the experience of a two-year pilot project. Programmes are written and produced by Health Unlimited's national staff and
broadcast to the Somali speaking Horn of Africa.