April 20, 2006 – Country Profile Somalia

The lack of government control and the presence of Islamist activity—conditions shared with Afghanistan—made Somalia a prime target for the US government in its war against terrorism. Particular concern was focused on Al-Itihad and the Al-Barakat conglomerate, which included a money transfer facility thought to be financing terrorist operations. However, extensive evidence gathered since September 11th 2001 concluded that Al-Itihad poses no significant threat and the role of Al-Barakat in providing financial support to various groups is tenuous in terms of international terrorism. The US overreaction was attributed to initial reliance on Ethiopia for intelligence gathering, when Ethiopia’s own agenda is likely to have affected the provision of information. External monitoring of Somalia, including the patrolling of coastal waters, is likely to continue well into the future. Greater external support was given to the reconciliation efforts, but it is likely that the international community’s interest in Somalia will remain fairly minor as problems in the Middle East and Afghanistan dominate the global agenda.

Only Somaliland has an identifiable national armed force, although Mr. Abdillahi’s interim government has suggested a new 30,000-strong Somali security service to be made up of the numerous armed militias allied to clan-based political groups. The UN has imposed an arms embargo since 1992 in an attempt to support peace and reconciliation, but this has been widely violated. No current data on troops and armed groups is available at present.

Source: Economist Intelligence Unit

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