Posted on 11/27/2001 3:42:02 PM PST by blam
Tuesday, 27 November, 2001, 23:36 GMT
Somalia welcomes US troops
Somalis are already struggling to cope with drought and war
Somalia's new interim prime minister, Hassan Abshir Farah, has said America could deploy troops in the country to monitor and track down alleged terrorists activities there. Somalia is on Washington's list of terrorist states and US intelligence officials are reported to believe that al-Qaeda members fleeing Afghanistan may head for the Somali capital Mogadishu.
But on a visit to neighbouring Ethiopia Mr Abshir denied his government has links with terrorist groups and reiterated its supports for the international fight against terrorism.
He said that as the Transitional National Government (TNG) does not control all of Somalia and lacks essential resources, it would need international help to monitor and detect what he called "terrorist infiltration".
Mr Farah said he held talks with the US ambassador to Ethiopia, and said he was confident that their discussions would prove beneficial.
Little evidence
The US has recently begun taking action against the country.
In its first move against Somalia, Washington has secured the freezing of assets of al-Barakaat, Somalia's largest company with interests in telecommunications, banking and postal services.
But a senior United Nations diplomat says US moves to close Somali companies for alleged terrorist links will only compound hardships in a country already faced with drought and a regional ban on cattle exports.
One can see almost a unique situation, which could be the complete economic collapse of the society of Somalia
The UN Resident and Humanitarian Co-ordinator for Somalia, Randolph Kent, told the BBC the country was already close to "complete economic collapse".
Mr Kent said there was little evidence to link al-Barakaat with Osama Bin Laden's al-Qaeda network.
'Close to the precipice'
Al-Barakaat and the Somalia Internet Company appeared earlier this month on a US list of companies and individuals suspected of funnelling money to al-Qaeda.
Along with denying all internet access to Somalis, the closure of these firms have severely restricted international telephone lines and shut down vitally needed money-transfer facilities.
Mr Kent said the moves had brought Somalia "close to the precipice of complete and total economic failure".
"It's the $100, the $150 that go to people in Somalia via al-Barakaat that ensures two things.
"One is the livelihood of individual family members themselves, but also the kind of small investments which keep a portion of the Somali economy kicking over," he said.
He added the UN had expressed "clear and vocal concern" to members of the international community.
But he had received replies that Somalis were entrepreneurial and would find alternatives.
And while the UN was not "in the business of investigation", Mr Kent said the alleged link between al-Barakaat and al-Qaeda "does not seem to be very evident".
But, journalist Bill Gertz of the Washington Times told the BBC that US intelligence officials had drawn up contingency plans for military strikes on targets inside Somalia.
Pentagon fears
"There are real concerns that al-Qaeda, under pressure in Afghanistan, will seek to set up a base of operations in Somalia because of the weak government there," he told the BBC.
He said the Pentagon believed that al-Qaeda was involved in the 1993 killing of 18 US rangers in Mogadishu.
He added there was even "word" that Mohamed Atta, one of the World Trade Center hijackers, was connected to the training of Somali militias at the time.
Asked if US support for Somalia's transitional government would be more constructive than bombing, Mr Gertz said there were those in the State Department who favoured such a policy.
"But the sentiment here... is that we've been attacked by this terrorist organisation," he said.
"There's a real sense of a war footing here that we really want to take care of this problem so this doesn't happen again," he said.
We have a score to settle with Somalia (and Yemen).
Yup. In fact, I have a bet with FReeper 'GlockRocks' that they're next.
Somalia will be the next target..
How exactly does one tell the difference between an economy that is 'close' to collapse versus one that has collapsed?
This is really rather amazing. Obviously Somalian government officials have learned from Afghanistan: They do not want to be categorized as willingly harboring terrorists. They have no desire to join the martyrs crowding the path to Allah. And since they haven't the resources (or political support) to capture or expel the terrorists themselves, they are doing the sensible thing and inviting the U.S. to do it for them.
Like Pakistan, Somalia is making a smart decision. This also makes it all neat and legal for the U.S., and sets a perfect precedent for other Islamic countries on the hit list to emulate.
This is GREAT news!
There was a recent thread that was dealing with Somalia and this theme HERE, it was quite interesting actually.
Don't think so, but, I'm not sure.
I would take that bet, even on chalk odds
We have some serious unfinished business there. Paybacks are going be a real bitch
MOGADISHU, Nov 23 (AFP) - Some 1,000 heavily armed Ethiopian troops entered the Somali autonomous region of Puntland on Friday at the invitation of the administration of Colonel Abdullahi Yussuf Ahmed, one of Puntland's leaders, witnesses said.
The Ethiopian troops entered the town of Galcayo, some 500 kilometres (300 miles) north of the Somali capital Mogadishu. They were supported by heavily equipped armoured vehicles and pick-ups mounted with heavy machine guns, witnesses who declined to be named for security reasons said.
Witnesses told AFP that Galcayo locals, who support Abdullahi Yussuf, welcomed the Ethiopian troops.
Prominent Galcayo elder Islam Bashir Islam Abdule -- one of a group of Darod clan elders from Puntland who visited Ethiopia last month to urge Addis Ababa to intervene militarily in Puntland to resolve the constitutional crisis there -- said the troops were invited by Puntland elders and supporters of Abdullahi Yussuf.
During last month's visit, the elders told Ethiopia that Abdullahi Yusuf had been attacked by an extremist religious group, which tried to overthrow him in August.
Their accusation was a reference to the Al Itihaad Al Islamiya, a Somali Islamic extremist group which the United States recently put on its list of terrorist organisations.
But a senior Ethiopian official denied that troops had moved in.
"We don't have a single soldier there," said the government official, who asked not to be named. He said Addis Ababa was "committed to peace and security" in Somalia.
Puntland, once an island of peace in war-torn Somalia, has been embroiled in a major power struggle over the past three months.
On Wednesday, 13 people were killed when fighters backing Abdullahi Yussuf raided the capital Garowe and seized it from supporters of Jama Ali Jama, who was named president by a congress of elders of the Darod clan on November 14. Abdullahi Yusuf immediately rejected the appointment.
Jama is a former military officer in the army of Somalia's ex-dictator Mohamed Siad Barre, who was toppled in 1991.
"The people of Puntland recognise the leadership of Puntland which has been popularly elected, and they will not give attention to an illegal conference funded by religious extremists of Al Itihad Al Islam," a senior official at Abdullahi Yusuf's office said at the time.
But the Somali Transitional National Government (TNG) Prime Minster Hassan Abshir Farah, who is currently in neighbouring Djibouti, warned Abdullahi Yusuf in an interview over the BBC Somali service to leace Garowe immediately, or "face the consequences."
Abdullahi Yusuf emerged as president of Puntland when the northeastern Somali region was founded as an "autonomous state" in August 1998.
Under Puntland's constitution, his mandate was due to end in August, but parliament voted to extend it for another three years in June.
Greater Somalia has been riven by clan warfare for a decade, and lacked a central government until August 2000 when Somali politicians, exiled parliamentarians and civic leaders set up a transitional administration.
But the TNG is opposed by most Somali warlords and controls little more than part of the capital.
The TNG has repeatedly accused Ethiopia of undermining its authority by backing armed opposition groups and deploying troops inside Somalia, a charge Addis Ababa denies.
Are there enough pikes in the White House fence for all the terrorists on our list? LOL
Somalia will be the next target..
here's the stakes... it'll be less of a loss than we will pay in taxes to rebuild this toilet...somalia
i kinda assumed iraq would be first in timing... sure isn't looking that way, is it?
Good - see what happens when you mess with the United States! You do business if we say you can do business.
He said the Pentagon believed that al-Qaeda was involved in the 1993 killing of 18 US rangers in Mogadishu.
Here we were back in 1993 trying to keep people from starving to death and look what they did to our Marines. From video that I have seen on TV - it appears that ordinary Somalians were cheering in the streets like a bunch of savages over the deaths of US Marines. Who's next? Any other third world countries want to try to piss on the United States?
Maybe, when the Marines return to Somailia to eradicate their resident terror infestation, they can exume the remains and ship them off to the WH.
Build another fence?
{sigh}
Stuff is ongoing in the Phillippines, judging by reports, but the folks there are ready and willing and need just some technical assistance to take care of it. Somalia, on the other hand, will need some more serious assistance.
Oh, they already did that in Texas? My bad...
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.