Somali terrorist links confirmed

2001-12-21 21:48

Aboard USS Theodore Roosevelt - The United States has strong indications that Somalia has links to Osama bin Laden's terrorist network, but the next phase of the war on terrorism may not be a military campaign, America's most senior military official said on Friday.

General Richard Myers, chairperson of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said there are "things that are being worked on" as the United States considers the campaign beyond Afghanistan.

"We are doing the kind of planning required, but I'm not going to get into that," Myers said.

Earlier this week, a senior German official said the United States had decided to take its fight against bin Laden's terror network to Somalia, a largely lawless, Muslim nation in the Horn of Africa.

"I don't know what he (the German official) knows that we don't know. I'm not saying it (Somalia) is (a target), I'm not saying it isn't," Myers said.

"There are strong indications that there are some ties in Somalia" to al-Qaeda, the bin Laden terror group, Myers said.

Somalia descended into a decade of chaos following the ouster of dictator Mohamed Siad Barre in 1991. It was without a central government until the election of President Abdiqasim Salad Hassan and 245 legislators in August 2000.

Abdiqasim's administration has little influence outside the capital, Mogadishu, and there has been growing speculation that Somalia could be a target in the US war on terrorism.

When asked by a sailor aboard the USS Theodore Roosevelt if the carrier would be sent to the Somali region, Myers declined to answer directly.

"International terrorism has a network that goes around the world. In many countries some regimes harbour (terrorists), regimes that really aren't governments allow it to exist," Myers said.

Myers was aboard the Roosevelt to help boost the 5 500-strong crew's morale. The carrier has been circling in the northern Arabian sea since October 17 as it catapults US fighter jets on bombing missions over Afghanistan.

On Thursday, two F/A-18C Hornets from the Roosevelt pounded two al-Qaeda troop positions in the Tora Bora area of eastern Afghanistan with 500-pound bombs. They were the first bombs dropped by the carrier's jets for four days, ship spokesperson Lieutenant John Oliveira said.

Myers told sailors they were involved in the most important US military campaign since World War II.

The next phase of war on terrorism may not be military, and instead could be more diplomatic or involve heavy intelligence gathering, Myers said.

In Afghanistan, the focus remains capturing Taliban and al-Qaeda leaders, "so we can take them out of circulation", he said.

Myers said there had been no new developments in the hunt for bin Laden and it was an "open question" if the Saudi dissident was still in Afghanistan.

But Myers was confident the prime suspect for the September 11 attacks on the United States would be caught.

"If he's not in Afghanistan, he's in his second most favourite place to be ... he's going to be less comfortable there ... (and) more likely to make mistakes and we will go after him," Myers said.

"I'm confident that in the end we will get him now, whether he is in Afghanistan or some other country, but when, I don't know."

Taliban and al-Qaeda members captured are being interrogated to see if they provide leads to other cells or "other terrorist acts that have been planned", he said. Eight Taliban and al-Qaeda members are currently being held on the USS Peleliu, another warship in the Arabian Sea, he added.

Earlier, Myers and his wife, Mary-Jo, had lunch in one of the enlisted men's messes.

"It was unbelievable. I never thought I would be doing this," said Petty Officer 2nd Class Daniel Shuksta after dining next to Myers.

Shuksta, 22, originally from Phoenix, Arizona, said Myers talked about life on the ship and how the crew were doing.

"It's good the way he can really see what is going on the ship," Shuksta said.

Myers left the Roosevelt on Friday for Oman. - Sapa-AP

- SAPA