This information request has been answered in the attached Response to Information Request SOM17338.E of 20 May 1994. Information on the alliances between the SSDF and Ali Mahdi's United Somali Congress (USC) could not be found among the sources currently available to the DIRB.

This response was prepared after researching publicly accessible information currently available to the DIRB within time constraints. This response is not, and does not purport to be, conclusive as to the merit of any particular claim to refugee status or asylum.

Documentation, Information and Research Branch (DIRB), Ottawa.

20 May 1993. Response to Information Request SOM17335.E.