Djibouti November 9, 2005 (HAN) – Over a decade, the United States has considered the Horn of Africa—‎Kenya, Ethiopia, Djibouti, Somalia, Eritrea, and Sudan—a major source of terrorism. Following the 9-11 ‎attacks against the United States, the Horn has come under increased scrutiny as a strategic focal point in the ‎war against terrorism. The German Navy task force off the Horn of Africa is keeping a watchful eye on a ‎German cruise vessel in the area, the MV Deutschland, after pirates attacked a U.S. ship off Somalia, a ‎shipping company said Wednesday.‎

Hans-Ulrich Kossel, a spokesman for the Deilmann shipping company in the Baltic port-town of Neustadt, said ‎‎"that doesn't mean we've got a frigate steaming alongside us. The Navy can watch us on their radar".‎

The MV Deutschland left Cyprus on Wednesday bound for Dubai via the Red Sea.‎ A German newspaper, Hamburger Abendblatt, said the company had approached the Interior Ministry in ‎Berlin to point out it was using shipping lanes near‎ Somalia and this information was passed on to the naval force.‎

Soon after the September 11, 2001 attacks, Germany sent ships to the Indian Ocean to help the counter-‎terrorism task force based in Djibouti. One of its tasks is to stop terrorists crossing the sea to Somalia.‎

On Saturday, a U.S. cruise ship, the Seabourn Spirit, fended off a raid by two pirate speedboats about 160 ‎kilometers off the Somali coast. The crew of the 10,000-ton vessel reportedly used a sound "gun" that issues ‎an ear-splitting noise, high-pressure water hoses and a deft change of course to thwart the attackers. Sources: ‎NEUSTADT, GERMAN

HAN BACKGROUND SOURCES:‎

In May 2003, the Kenyan government admitted that a key member of the al Qaeda terror network was ‎plotting an attack on western targets, confirming al Qaeda's firm local presence.‎

Ethiopian Muslims have not been receptive to Islamic fundamentalism and they lack centralized power. They ‎tend to identify first with their ethnic kin. Muslims and Christians are geographically intermixed throughout ‎most of the country. Islam in Ethiopia has been benign during the past century. But the potential for conflict is ‎present.‎

Djibouti's importance to terrorists derives from its transit capabilities rather than its potential as a base for ‎international terrorist organizations. Events since 1999, however, may have increased Djibouti's ‎attractiveness to international terrorists.‎

Somalia has played a role in Islamist terrorism, albeit a specialized one. It has served primarily as a short-‎term transit point for movement of men and materiel through the porous and corrupt border between Somalia ‎into Kenya, which has been a preferred site of terrorist attacks.‎

Eritrea's inclusion in the "coalition of the willing" threatens to widen the gap between moderate and radical ‎Eritrean Muslims due to the regime's use of the "war against terrorism" to eliminate all dissent.‎

The government of Sudan stands at a crossroads. It is attempting to move in a new direction through serious ‎peace negotiations with the Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA) and improved relations with the United ‎States, but those efforts are being hindered by high-ranking officials who remain committed to the radical ‎Islamist agenda.‎

An effective U.S. response to terrorist threats in the Horn of Africa must include increased and targeted ‎foreign aid, improved regional intelligence capabilities, and increased pressure on exogenous forces ‎‎(especially Saudi Arabia) that stoke the flames of radicalism through Muslim "charities" and religious training ‎programs. ‎

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