By R. Ravichandran

PUTRAJAYA, May 29, 2006 – The Transitional Federal Government of Somalia Monday claimed that there was a presence of Al-Qaeda network in the east African country and called on the international community for help, saying that the current situation posed grave danger to the world stability and security.

Its Minister of Foreign Affairs Abdillahi Sheikh Ismail said that Somalia had been a breeding ground for extremist activities for the past 15 years and the situation remained so until today.

He said that Somalia had already become "another Afghanistan" and criticized the United States for not cooperating or coordinating with his government to tackle the problem but helping one particular group in Somalia.

The Somalian minister said that groups linked to terrorism activities in Somalia were getting arms by looting, smuggling through the seaports and airstrips they controlled, and money to buy arms from funds collected from Arab Gulf States and from ransom taken from the civilian population and the business community.

"It (Somalia) is already another Afghanistan. It is a threat to us...it is a threat to the region and it is a threat to the international community," he told Bernama on the sidelines of the Non-Aligned Movement Coordinating Bureau (NAM-CoB) Ministerial Meeting at the Putrajaya International Convention Centre.

After Taliban wrested power in 1996, Afghanistan was the breeding ground for terrorism activities and training and the main base for Al-Qaeda until the September 11 attack by Al-Qaeda which led to the US-led coalition invasion ousting Taliban in late 2001.

The Somalia Transitional Federal Government is functioning from Baidoa, about 240km south of capital Mogadishu due to insecurity in the capital, which continues to witness armed fighting between various groups resulting in more than 300 people killed so far and thousands were displaced.

Abdillahi said the international community as well NAM had neglected and abandoned Somalia after the country went into anarchy and lawlessness in 1991.

Somalia, a war-torn country in the Horn of Africa plunged into civil war after the ouster of dictator Mohamed Siyad Barre in 1991, placing the country without a functioning government.

Abdillahi said the Somalian government needed the international community's help in order to form an effective security force to fight terrorist groups and to protect the country.

Abdillahi said Somalia also needed peace stabilization forces under the African Union and any such mission from the United Nations would also be welcomed.

Source: Bernama

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