Members of the anti-terrorism warlord
coalition that has been battling forces loyal to Islamic courts are seen
in Balad, a strategic town, about 19 miles north of Mogadishu June 4,
2006. [Reuters] |
The United States has been funneling more than $100,000 a month to warlords
battling Islamist militia in Somalia, according to a Somalia expert who has
conferred with the groups in the country.
The US operation, which former intelligence officials say is aimed at
preventing emergence of rulers who could provide al Qaeda with a safe haven akin
to Taliban-ruled Afghanistan, appeared to be seriously set back on Monday when
an Islamic coalition claimed control of Mogadishu.
US government officials refused to discuss any possible secret US involvement
in the strategically placed Horn of Africa state, which has been wrecked by
years of fighting.
But former US intelligence officials, speaking on condition of anonymity
because of the sensitivity of the subject, said an operation to support the
warlords' alliance appeared to involve both the CIA and US military.
John Prendergast, who monitors Somalia for the think-tank International
Crisis Group, said he learned during meetings with alliance members in Somalia
that the CIA was financing the warlords with cash payments.
Prendergast estimated that CIA-operated flights into Somalia have been
bringing in $100,000 to $150,000 per month for the warlords. The flights remain
in Somalia for the day, he said, so that US agents can confer with their
allies.
The Bush administration has maintained a silence over allegations in recent
months of a US proxy war against Islamist radicalism in the country.
Pentagon spokesman Navy Lt. Commander Joe Carpenter reiterated the
administration's position that the United States stands ready to "disrupt the
efforts of terrorists wherever they may be active."
Secret Support
Claims of clandestine US support for secular warlords who call themselves the
"Alliance for the Restoration of Peace and Counter-Terrorism" have been aired by
Somali President Abdullahi Yusuf and independent analysts.
A United Nations team charged with monitoring a UN arms embargo against
Somalia has also said it is investigating an unnamed country's clandestine
support for the warlords alliance as a possible violation of the weapons ban.
The former intelligence officials said the operation was controlled by the
Pentagon through US Central Command's Combined Joint Task Force for the Horn of
Africa, a counterterrorism mission based in neighboring Djibouti established
after the September 11, 2001 attacks.
On Monday, after months of fighting that has killed around 350 people, the
Islamic militia claimed control of Mogadishu and a warlord militiaman said his
coalition's leaders were fleeing the capital.
US intelligence has produced no conclusive evidence of an active al Qaeda
presence in Somalia, experts said. But there have been reports of al Qaeda
members in the country, including suspects in the 1998 US embassy bombings in
East Africa.
"The Pentagon, and now the US government as a whole, is convinced these are
elements for establishing a religious-based government like the Taliban, that
could be exploited by al Qaeda," said a former intelligence official
knowledgeable about US courterterrorism activities.
The CIA has given its warlord allies surveillance equipment for tracking al
Qaeda suspects and appeared to view the warlords as a counter to the influence
of Afghanistan-trained Islamist militia leader Aden Hashi Aryo, Prendergast
said.
"By circumventing the new government and going straight to individual
warlords, the US is perpetuating and even deepening Somalia's fundamental
problems, and compromising long-term efforts to combat extremism," Prendergast
said.
Somalia, a country of 10 million people, has had no effective central
authority since 1991 when warlords overthrew military dictator Mohamed Siad
Barre. The central government is based temporarily in the town of Baidoa and has
been unable to control events in Mogadishu.
Americans have bad memories of US involvement in Somalia
in 1993, when 18 US soldiers were killed and 79 injured in a battle with
guerrillas loyal to warlord Mohamed Farrah Aidid after entering the country to
support a relief effort.
