US now guns for Somalia, Yemen
2002-02-11 09:20
London - The United States is preparing to launch surveillance flights over Somalia and Yemen in the next phase of its war against terrorism, according to The Times newspaper.
The daily said Britain, France and Germany were set to offer support to Washington as it turned its attention to two countries which it
believed were harbouring al-Qaeda terrorist training camps.
Quoting military sources, the newspaper said no decision had been taken on the air support which the three
European Nato allies would provide.
"It won't be on the scale of Afghanistan but there is enough
information about Somalia and Yemen to merit a coalition
operation," a military source told the paper.
The United States already has carried out several reconnaissance flights over Somalia, to look for the training camps run by Osama bin Laden's terrorist network, according to The Times.
In contrast a military intervention against Iraq, accused by US President George W Bush of being part of an "axis of evil" with Iran and North Korea, seemed unlikely at present, the paper said.
British sources told the daily that, at this stage, there were no plans to send British troops to either Somalia or Yemen. - Sapa-AFP
- SAPA