Qaeda regroups in Somalia: interior minister

Somali Interior Minister Muhammad Julid has revealed the presence of some al-Qaeda leaders in the war-torn African state, asserting that authorities of the Transitional Federal Government are set to hunt them down.

The Somali minister, in an interview with AlArabiya.net, refused to reveal the sources of the information, but was willing to confirm them, on his own account.

Speaking by phone from the headquarters of the interim government, 240 kms south of the capital Mogadishu, Julid stated that al-Qaeda leaders collaborate with extremist youth movements and the remnants of the Islamic Courts Union (ICU), defeated last year by the joint Somali-Ethiopian forces.

The minister further called on Arab and Muslim countries to provide financial and logistic support for his government to contain what he called "the danger of international terrorists." He pointed out that his ministry suffers from serious shortage of advanced equipment required to track them down throughout the country.

"We work in extremely arduous conditions and with very limited facilities. If the international community does not step in, Somalia will turn into a safe haven for all international terrorist organizations not only in the Horn of Africa, but all over the Arab World."

Mujahideen mobilizing

The Interior Minister's statements coincided with security and intelligence reports that Mujahideen (combatants) are mobilizing at the Somali-Ethiopian border and getting ready to launch attacks against the joint forces.

Somali sources told AlArabiya.net that the village of Abalo, located between the Southwestern regions of Bay and Bakool, is the center of intensive mobilization.

The sources added that Aden Hashi Eyrow, leader of the Hizbul Shabaab (Youth Party) movement affiliated to the ICU, and Mukhtar Aly Robo, the movement's spokesman, are in the ranks of the mujahideen. This, they say, confirms that they are about to embark on a guerilla war against the joint Somali-Ethiopian troops.

Eyrow and Robo, who received military training in Afghanistan, are on the United States' list of the most wanted terrorists.

In a 20-minute recording, Eyrow called for all jihadists around the world to come to Somalia and fight against what he called "international Crusades." He instigated the Somali people to fight Ethiopia, which he called "the occupying enemy."

After menacing the Somali Transitional Government and warning that "they will never have peace as long as we have pulse in our veins," Eyrow declared war on Uganda and incited his mujahideen to target it, stating that "there is no difference between Ugandans and Ethiopians and Americans."

"Let us kill their soldiers and diplomats and burn their cars and destroy their tanks. I urge my brothers to make killing Ugandan occupiers their priority."

Eyrow prefaced his voice message with a greeting to jihadists in Iraq, Chechnya, and Afghanistan and to Osama bin Laden.

American troops stationed in Ethiopia and Djibouti have been trying to hunt down Islamist fighters said to have links with al-Qaeda and charged with “terrorist operations” that swept the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa between 1995 and 1997.

2,000 troops of the United States Marine Corps are stationed in the Horn of Africa in addition to Army Special Forces. In collaboration with British, French, and Australian forces, the United States has put Red Sea and Indian Ocean Somali coasts under heavy surveillance since the September 11 attacks to prevent any infiltration of “terrorist cells” into Somali soil.

The United States attributes the presence of training camps in Somalia to the absence of a strong central government, which is very tempting for “terrorist groups”.

(Translated from Arabic by Sonia Farid)