NAIROBI, Dec 14 (Reuters) - The United Nations appealed on Thursday for $237 million to help hundreds of thousands of Somalis, including victims of recent floods and a looming war between the government and an Islamist movement. Already one of the world's poorest nations, the Horn of Africa country has been further buffeted this year by fighting after Islamists took over Mogadishu and then by heavy rainfall that has killed scores in floods. An estimated 1.4 million people lack proper food, while another 400,000 have been displaced, U.N. officials said. "To make things worse, Somalia now faces the possibility of war," said Eric Laroche, humanitarian coordinator for Somalia, referring to a standoff between the Islamists and the interim government of President Abdullahi Yusuf. "The international community must do what it can to avert such a scenario and to preserve ... the human dignity of Somalis by ensuring access to the most needed basic services." As well as food and shelter, the funds, which the United Nations wants to raise from international donors, would be used to improve water and education services. Most of Somalia's 10 million people live on subsistence farming and pastoralism. One in four Somali children dies before five, according to U.N. figures.
