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