Information on the above-mentioned subclan is limited among the sources consulted by the DIRB.

The following information was provided in a telephone interview on 17 August 1995, by an anthropologist specializing in Somalia at Wilkes University in Wilkes Barre, Pennsylvania, who stated that the Bagheri are agriculturalists living in southern Somalia in the border regions of Kenya and Ethiopia. According to the anthropologist, the Bagheri, as a subclan of the Ogaden/Darod clan family, might find some measure of security in the region to the west of the Juba River in southern Somalia where they shared extended kinship ties with the Ogaden clan and other Darod-related clans. This source speculated that outside of this area, it would be unlikely that this group would have the necessary ties and support to provide any measure of security. This source was also of the opinion that Mogadishu would not be a safe place for Somalis related to the Ogaden clan, even if they were only passing through the area.

A professor of political science at Davidson College in Davidson, N.C. stated in a telephone interview on 18 August 1995 that the Bagheri are a small clan who customarily occupied the Somalia-Ethiopia border area north of Belet Wen. The professor added that this group was known for its "religious not fundamentalist leaders" (ibid.).

P. S. Gilkes, in his genealogical charts of the Somalis, identifies an Ogaden subclan spelt Bah Geri, but does not provide any information about it (The Price of Peace Sept. 1994, n.p.).

According to I. M. Lewis' 1969 map of the Somali peoples, the Bah Geri are depicted as occupying territory on the eastern side of the Shebelle River in Ethiopia, immediately across the border from Somalia.

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. Please find below the list of additional sources consulted in researching this Information Request.

Anthropologist specializing in Somalia, Wilkes University, Wilkes Barre, Pennsylvania. 17 August 1995. Telephone interview.

Gilkes, P. S. September 1994. The Price of Peace: Somalia and the United Nations 1991-1994. Biggleswade, UK: Save the Children Fund UK.

Lewis, I. M. 1969. Peoples of the Horn of Africa. London: International African Institute.

Professor of political science speacializing in Somalia, Davidson College, Davidson, North Carolina. 18 August 1995. Telephone interview.

Africa Confidential. 1995.

Africa Report. 1995.

Africa Research Bulletin: Political, Social and Cultural Series. 1995.

DIRB Country File. 1995.

Horn of Africa Bulletin. 1995.

The Indian Ocean Newsletter. 1995.

New African. 1995.

Profile of Asylum Claims and Country Conditions. 1995.

United States Immigration and Naturalization Service Database.

On line searches of media reports.

Oral sources.