US joins hunt for Islamists as Kenya closes border with Somalia
SOMALIA: US naval forces have joined the hunt for Islamist
militants with suspected Al-Qaeda ties trying to flee Somalia after
being defeated by Ethiopian-backed government troops, a top US official
said Wednesday, as Kenya closed its border with its lawless neighbour.
The US forces, based in Djibouti, were patrolling the seas off
Somalia in a bid to capture some leaders of the Islamic Courts movement,
including suspected Al-Qaeda agents wanted for the 1998 bombings of US
embassies in East Africa, State Department spokesman Sean McCormack
said.
The United States was working closely with Somalia's Horn of Africa
neighbours "to ensure that these individuals aren't able to transit
those borders," he said in Washington, without providing details of the
US deployment.
Kenya's Foreign Minister Raphael Tuju meanwhile said his country had
closed its border with Somalia to prevent an influx of weapons and
fighters.
The closure, which came a day after Ethiopian helicopters bombed a
Kenyan position by mistake, left thousands of would-be refugees stranded
on the Somali side.
Kenyan police prevented aid workers from reaching refugee reception
centres and forcefully escorted at least 700 people in northern and
coastal regions back over the border to Somalia, drawing a protest from
the UN refugee agency.
Tuju said that "we are not able to ascertain whether these people are
genuine refugees or fighters and therefore it's best that they remain in
Somalia." He insisted that Kenya would not budge on the issue "unless
women and children are in danger inside Somalia."
Somalia's government acknowledged Wednesday that it had failed to
capture any Islamist leaders who on Monday abandoned their final
stronghold, the southern port of Kismayo.
On Tuesday, an Islamist gunman attacked Ethiopians camped in Jilib,
north of Kismayo, killing two soldiers, in what was seen as a first
incident in a threatened guerrilla campaign.
Somali Information Minister Ali Jama speculated that the Islamists,
who deny they have links to Al-Qaeda, might be in a dense forest along
the Kenya-Somalia border, but could not give their exact location.
Somali government spokesman Abdirahman Dinari said the Islamist leaders
would get no amnesty, since "they are accused of terrorism and that is
an international crime."
Kenyan police said they were under instructions not to let any one
cross the border.
The UN refugee agency has said around 4,000 Somalis were stranded in
the Somali town of Dhobley waiting to cross into Kenya.
Mogadishu, Thursday, AFP |