|
U.K. Newspaper Reports Somalia "Next" U.S. Anti-Terrorism Target
PESHAWAR, Dec. 9 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) - In preparation for a possible next step in its "war against terror", the United States has already flown surveillance flights over Somalia, claiming it is targeting al-Qaeda forces there, the British daily,
The Observer, reported.
U.S. navy pilots have flown waves of missions to reportedly map two al-Qaeda camps near the Kenyan border, with a view to launching air strikes, Pentagon sources said. U.S. warships have positioned themselves off the coast near the capital, Mogadishu, in order to prevent Osama bin Laden from hiding there, and to prepare for an attack, if necessary.
Sensitivity over the killing of 18 U.S. Army Rangers in Somalia in 1993 is being overcome by a new, emboldened Pentagon which wants to "exorcise that ghost," an unidentified source told the British daily newspaper,
The Guardian.
U.S. flights have intensified over the past few days. Relief workers in Somalia are reported by the U.S. State Department to be bracing for action, and the Kenyan government has said it fears a flood of refugees.
Walter H. Kansteiner III, U.S. Assistant Secretary for African Affairs, said the U.S. had "strong suspicions" of alleged connections to al-Qaeda among individuals in Mogadishu struggling to establish some kind of governing authority.
Earlier, Abdiqassim Salad Hassan, the interim president of Somalia's latest attempt to form a national government, said bin Laden would not find refuge in his country.
The State Department placed has placed Somalia's Al-Itihaad Islamic group on its list of alleged "terrorist organizations."
The United States' hunt for fresh targets in pursuing the al-Qaeda network and its leader, bin Laden, has spread to Africa, South America and the Balkans.
In Sudan, where bin Laden lived from 1991 to 1996, the U.S. is putting additional pressure on the regime to share information on al-Qaeda's potential bases there.
Pentagon and White House officials are reportedly also at work in Yemen, threatening the government that it must destroy alleged al-Qaeda camps they claim still remain in the northern mountains. The pressure has intensified after revelations that the Yemeni regime detained one of the bombers of the USS Cole, only to release him 17 months before the attack.
The U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and military intelligence is reportedly also sending missions into Paraguay and Uruguay in South America to combat what they believe are active al-Qaeda cells there. Some of these are concentrated, say officials, at the point where Brazil, Argentina and Paraguay meet near the Foz do Iguaçu waterfall.
Another dispatch has been sent to Bosnia, where al-Qaeda bases are said to be established in the otherwise secular community.
Meanwhile, Afghanistan's new leader, Hamid Karzai, has called upon Afghans to help hunt down bin Laden and Taliban leader Mullah Mohamed Omar, both of whose whereabouts are still unknown.
Speculation has intensified over the location of the pair after a cave complex believed to be bin Laden's main base was seized and Mullah Omar's stronghold of Kandahar fell Friday. A contingent of 1,000 more U.S. Marines is poised to join the hunt for bin Laden, according to
The Observer.
Dozens of senior al-Qaeda and Taliban officials have reportedly escaped Afghanistan and are living in Pakistani tribal areas near the border. Some of the exiled Taliban figures have already called for assistance in continuing their struggle against the U.S.
The exiles include Maulvi Abdul Kabir, the Taliban's Deputy Prime Minister, who has moved into a house in Peshawar. Others include the head of the Supreme Court, Maulvi Mohamed Saqib; Information Minister Qadratullah Jamal; Deputy Foreign Minister Abdul Rahman Zahed and Hamdullah Nomani, the Mayor of Kabul.
Meanwhile, in light of the prospect of the U.S.-led coalition expanding its "war against terrorism" beyond Afghanistan, the administration of U.S. President George W. Bush has especially warned sanctions-hit Iraq.
British Secretary of State for Defense Geoff Hoon indicated earlier that Britain would back the United States in strikes on other countries, jeopardizing the allied coalition. But he still said he has seen no evidence linking Iraq directly with al-Qaeda.
Germany and France are against expansion and have clearly warned against an attack on Iraq.
The warnings have caused discomfort among some of the principle European supporters of the military campaign in Afghanistan, the British daily newspaper,
The Independent, reported.
"We should be very cautious in particular in talking about new targets in the Middle East," said German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder. "We could take on more than any of us is capable of handling."
Similar concerns have been heard from the Arab world. During an earlier visit to Washington, Egypt's foreign minister, Ahmed Maher, said that any use of force against Iraq would be a "mistake".
"It would not solve the problem and would detract from solidarity," BBC's online news service quoted Maher.
Jordanian government spokesperson Saleh Qallab earlier said that any military action would have "negative consequences."
The phrase was echoed by Syrian Foreign Minister Farouk al-Shara, who warned that the United States would be making "a fatal mistake".
|
