RAVAGED HORN OF AFRICAN COUNTRY. YEMENI FOREIGN MINISTER SAID HIS COUNTRY HAS BEEN BEARING THE BURDEN OF THE INFLUX OF TENS OF THOUSANDS OF SOMALI REFUGEES SINCE THE COLLAPSE OF SOMALIA'S CENTRAL GOVERNMENT IN 1991. HE SAID YEMEN HAS RECEIVED NEARLY 200,000 REFUGEES FROM OMALIA, A SITUATION THAT HAS RESULTED IN A "GREAT ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL IMPACT ON OUR COUNTRY." QERBI URGED SPAIN TO PUSH FOR A GREATER ROLE BY THE EUROPEAN UNION IN STABILIZING SOMALIA. MORATINOS AGREED THAT "THE EU AND EC SHOULD WORK IN A SPEEDY WAY TO FULFIL THEIR COMMITMENTS IN SOMALIA." HE FURTHER PROMISED THAT HIS COUNTRY WOULD INCREASE ITS FINANCIAL ONTRIBUTION TO THE OPERATIONS OF THE UN REFUGEE ORGANIZATION. THE TWO MINISTERS LATER SIGNED A PROTOCOL ON CULTURAL AND SCIENTIFIC COOPERATION.
