Somali Islamists maintain aid ban and deny famine

Somalia's al-Shabab Islamists have denied lifting their ban on Western aid agencies and say UN reports of famine are "sheer propaganda".

The UN on Wednesday said that parts of Somalia were suffering a famine after the worst drought in 60 years.
A spokesman for al-Shabab, which has ties to al-Qaeda and controls much of the country, accused aid groups of being political.
Most Western aid agencies quit Somalia in 2009 following al-Shabab threats.
The United Nations World Food Programme was one of those banned.
It says it is planning to airlift food into the capital, Mogadishu, in the coming days to help the thousands of malnourished children who face starvation in the country.
Some 10 million people are said to need food aid across East Africa but Somalia is by far the worst affected country, as there is no national government to co-ordinate aid after two decades of fighting.