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--- Begin Message --- Title: Attack on Somalia said "imminent"US attack on Somalia said "imminent"
BBC Monitoring Service - United Kingdom; Jan 7, 2002
Reports of an imminent US attack on Somalia continue to increase in the context of US efforts to crack down and pursue what it describes as Usamah Bin Ladin's Al Qa'idah affiliates.
This week, international media reports have been carrying reports on Somalia. All internationally recognized newspapers, quoting unnamed officials, are predicting that a US attack on Somalia is imminent.
It is increasingly suspected that the US might use Ethiopia to conduct the infantry phase of the war, while the USA will facilitate the logistics and the financial requirements.
Talking to Newsweek International, the prime minister of the Transitional Government of Somalia [TGS], Hasan Abshir Farah, expressed great concern on the matter, and said Ethiopia had been a traditional adversary. He said if the USA used Ethiopia for its operation, there would be a serious problem. The premier said he would rather prefer a unilateral US attack on Somalia instead of involving Ethiopia.
It is also said the SRRC [Somali Reconciliation and Reconstruction Council] is mobilizing militiamen in Baydhabo [Baidoa, south-central Somalia] in a bid to prepare for the planed anti-terror ground assault. Up to now areas clearly targeted in the war include Kismaayo and its environs, Marka town and the capital city, Mogadishu.
However, there is no clear proof to show the presence of terrorists in the country, except mere claims in this regard.
Recently, American journalists visited Kismaayo town and found no evidence of terrorism. They also visited Mogadishu and Somaliland. It is said US intelligence personnel also visited Somalia.
At the moment, US, German and French warships are stationed off the Somali coast, inspecting any ship entering Somalia's territorial waters, in a bid to check for fleeing Al-Qa'idah members who had been defeated in Afghanistan.
Reports coming in say the US administration wants to begin its operation first against the TGS, which the SRRC is accusing of comprising some terrorist-affiliated groups. Earlier, an American official said the US government did not recognize the TGS. This suggests that in principle, the US administration prefers the formation of a new government in the place of the TGS...
It is crystal clear that the USA will not attack Somalia with an intention of forming a government, but rather with the sole purpose of hunting down certain individuals whom it sees as a threat to USA's existence.
If lessons could be learnt from history, the 1993 incident is enough for Somalia, when US forces, with highly sophisticated weapons, entered the country but did not try even to disarm the armed militiamen who were destroying the country.
Source: Mudugonline.com web site, Ottawa, in Somali 6 Jan 02
/BBC Monitoring/ © BBC.
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