Wednesday, May 24, 2006
Associated Press
NAIROBI, Kenya – Islamic fundamentalist warlords have gained surging power in Somalia, raising fears that the country could become the next Afghanistan and fall into al-Qaida’s hands.
There are many similarities with pre-Sept. 11, 2001, Afghanistan: strict Islamic courts, public executions, strong anti-Western sentiment and a failed central government. And as in Afghanistan, fundamentalists are winning public support by promising a chaos-weary public that they’ll impose order.
The Pentagon has placed a military task force in Djibouti, just north of Somalia, even as the Bush administration has avoided direct action in the country. But U.S. efforts to influence Somalia indirectly through proxies are stirring debate and angst even among secular-minded Somalis.
“We certainly have active efforts working with the international community and working across a spectrum of Somalis to make sure that Somalia isn’t a safe haven for terrorism,” State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said. “We have a real interest in counterterrorism efforts in Somalia.”
Somalia’s response?
“I believe in the idea of fighting the terrorists, because terrorism has no room in Islam, the religion of peace,” said Osmail Mo’alin Ahmed, a teacher in Mogadishu, where frequent battles erupt between secular militias and those allied with Islamic extremism. “But the U.S. should not place such a responsibility with ruthless warlords.”
Some Islamic leaders, including Hassan Dahir Aweys, who the U.S. government says has connections to al-Qaida, accuse the secular warlords of taking money from the CIA and creating anarchy.
U.S. officials said recently that three al-Qaida leaders indicted in the 1998 U.S. Embassy bombings are being sheltered by Islamic leaders in Mogadishu.
Source: AP, May 24, 2006
