US thinking of arresting TNG President for links with....

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[SW News] ( BBC, Guardian ) USA contemplating arrest of Somali ( ARTA) President for helping Al-Qa'idah, US Does not need Bases in Kenya.... : Posted on [22 Dec 2001]

USA contemplating arrest of Somali president for helping Al-Qa'idah
BBC Monitoring Service - United Kingdom; Dec 21, 2001

London: The USA is contemplating arresting Somali transitional President Abdiqasim Salad and several of his aides and bringing them to justice on charges of cooperating with the Al-Qa'idah organization, harbouring its members and allowing Somalia to become a safe haven for terrorists. Meanwhile, Washington has announced that it does not recognize the transitional government that Salad heads, nor the two separatist entities: Somaliland in the north and Puntland in the south.

Informed Somali sources yesterday told Al-Zaman over the phone from Mogadishu: "Washington told President Salad that it does not recognize his government and that it is trying to form an alternative government in Somalia that meets with its approval."

The sources said: "The political official in charge of Somali affairs at the US embassy in Kenya, Glenn Warren, who left Mogadishu yesterday after his meeting with Salad, presented a list of people who are wanted for questioning and are accused by the USA of taking part in terrorist operations. The list includes several of the president's closest aides."

Asked whether the president's legitimacy may be taken away from him, the source said: "Washington's decision can only mean that this is indeed the case."...

Source: Al-Zaman, London, in Arabic 21 Dec 01

Somalis hope five arrests will appease the US
The Guardian - United Kingdom; Dec 22, 2001
BY JAMES ASTILL IN NAIROBI

Somali police say they have arrested four Iraqi Kurds and a Palestinian suspected of links to al-Qaida. The hope of the Somalis is obviously to do something to avert widely-rumoured American strikes.

The men were reported to have been detained in the capital, Mogadishu, by a hastily formed anti-terrorist unit - which Washington says may itself contain terrorists. The police chief, Colonel Abdi Hassan Awale, said yesterday that the men were arrested three days ago, after entering Somalia without permission.

"We have arrested them because we do not know who they are," he said.

The anti-terrorist unit was formed last week after Pentagon officials made claims about al-Qaidas presence in Somalia. On Thursday, its members were inspected by a Nairobi-based diplomat, Glenn Warren, the first US official to visit Mogadishu since 1995.

President Abdiquassim Salad Hassan denied there were terrorist organisations in Soma lia, but said the unit was a sign of his governments commitment to fighting terrorism alongside America. "We are very willing to show them every corner of the country," he said.

As Mr Hassan controls only about half of Mogadishu - warlords run the rest of the country - analysts have questioned how effective his unit can be.

One of the five men it has arrested approached international journalists in Mogadishu last month appealing for help.

He said he was a refugee who had fled Iraq for political reasons, but had been picked up by authorities in Dubai and deported to Somalia.

The five had been living in Mogadishu for about a year, according to news agency reports quoting Ali Jama, owner of a restaurant where they often ate. Mr Jama said one of them was a dentist.

General Richard Myers, chairman of the US joint chiefs of staff, said yesterday there were "strong indications of some ties in Somalia to al-Qaida". He refused to confirm whether the east African country would be a target for strikes: "Im not saying it is and Im not saying it isn't. We are doing the kind of planning required, but I'm not going to get into that."

Speculation about US plans has increased since the German defence minister, Rudolf Scharping, said on Wednesday that Somalia would definitely be a target in the war on terror.

The US defence secretary, Donald Rumsfeld, dismissed the claims as "flat wrong". Mr Scharping, notorious for his gaffes, was forced to backtrack in an interview with yesterday's Bild newspaper.

"Together we must defend ourselves against the threat of terror, on many levels, in many places . . . but military plans to attack Somalia do not exist," he said.

The UN refugee agency said yesterday there were many refugees in Mogadishu from countries including Iraq and Ethiopia. They are often deported to Somalia from Gulf states, because Somalia has no functioning immigration authority.

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US Doesn't Need Kenya Base, Says Expert
The Nation (Kenya); Dec 21, 2001

The United States does not require access to bases in Kenya in order to attack suspected terrorist targets in Somalia, a retired US Army colonel has said.

The Washington Times reported last Friday that US strikes against Al Qaeda camps inside Somalia could be launched from one or two aircraft carriers in tandem with Air Force bombers based in Oman. The newspaper cited unnamed American defence officials as the source of its information.

Two US Marine Corps would also take part in the attacks, according to The Washington Times.

Retired Colonel Dan Smith, a former specialist in intelligence operations, confirmed that such a scenario is feasible.

US aircraft used in an attack on Somali territory might also take off from an airfield in Saudi Arabia, Col Smith told the Nation.

American reliance on aircraft carriers in the Indian Ocean and air bases on the Arabian peninsula might prevent political tensions in Kenya from rising if the United States does take military action against sites in Somalia.

Some opposition politicians have warned against giving US forces access to bases in Kenya. Recent reports claim that British officials have urged their Kenyan counterparts to make military facilities available to the United States in the event that Washington does open a Somali front in its war on terrorism.

The United States would probably be able to establish bases inside Somalia as well, Col Smith said. He noted that one Somali warlord, Hussein Mohamed Aideed, has been cooperating with American military scouts.

Payoffs would likely persuade one or two additional warlords to allow US forces to use their territory, added Col Smith, who now works as chief of research at the non-governmental Centre for Defence Information in Washington.

Somaliland and Puntland are other possibilities for US bases, Col Smith added, referring to two breakaway regions in northern Somalia.

But the United States should not launch attacks inside Somalia unless invited to do so by "legitimate authorities", Col Smith said. "We're going to have to rely heavily on the locals, as we did in Afghanistan," he noted in regard to US forces that might operate in Somalia.

Leaders of the Transitional National Government of Somalia have sought to dissuade the United States from attacking the country. These TNG officials insist that Osama bin Laden's al Qaeda network has no presence in Somalia. Al Itihaad al Islamiya, an indigenous group branded by the United States as "terrorist," no longer poses any danger, according to the TNG.

But the fledgling government's authority is severely circumscribed, not even encompassing all of Mogadishu, the capital. And according to various sources, the TNG itself has close ties to al Itihaad al Islamiya, which the US has linked to al Qaeda.

If the United States does carry out military strikes in Somalia, commanders would be well advised to avoid operations in Mogadishu, Col Smith said. He noted the high potential there for revival of the urban guerrilla tactics used against American forces during the US-UN famine-relief and counterinsurgency operation in 1993. Ambushes in Mogadishu took the lives of several UN peacekeepers and US soldiers, prompting then- President Clinton to order a pullout from Somalia

Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media. (allafrica.com)

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