Information on the above-mentioned subjects is limited according to sources consulted by the DIRB.

In a telephone interview on 29 July 1996, a historian specializing in Somalia at Savannah State College in Savannah, Georgia stated that Abudwaq is in the border region of Ethiopia and Somalia, north of the Shebelle River in an area dominated by the Marehan clan. According to the source, the Ashraf (also Asheraf) would not be the dominant clan in the area, although some Ashraf may live among the Marehan (ibid.). The source added that the Ashraf are to be found throughout Somalia and are accorded some prestige by other clans because of their reputation for learning and their religious probity. Ashraf are often found living among various clans. The term "Ashraf" means "respected" in the Somali language, but the Ashraf would have suffered along with most of the other clans because of the indiscriminate nature of the violence during the civil conflict(ibid.).

A professor of history specializing in Somalia at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia corroborated the above information in a telephone interview on 31 July 1996.

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.

Historian specializing in Somalia, Savannah State College, Savannah, Georgia. 29 July 1996. Telephone interview.

Professor of history specializing in Somalia, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia. 31 July 1996. Telephone interview.