Aid agencies accused of providing bad food

MOGADISHU, Somalia, April 13 (UPI) -- Somalia's interior minister is accusing international relief agencies of distributing expired food in the strife-torn African country.

Mohamed Mohamud Guled made the accusation at a news conference Friday in the capital of Mogadishu, Shabelle Media Network reports.

"We rejected them to distribute expired food to displaced families scattered in the outskirts of the capital," he told reporters. "We, the government, are responsible of the protection of our people and we don't want them to be given outdated food."

He added that aid agencies have refused the government's request that they examine the food before distributing it.

Somalia has been mired in chaos since 1991 when warlords overthrew dictator Mohamed Siad Barre and then turned against each other.