By Abdifatah Ismail

The fall of Mogadishu, the capital of Somalia, to Islamists comes at a time when anti-terror surveillance on the Horn of Africa is at its height.

At present, several western countries including the US, Germany and France have military bases in Djibouti, the northern neighbor of Somalia.

From the bases these governments patrol the Red Sea and parts of the Indian Ocean in a bid to protect Western interests in the region from not only the marauding Somali pirates, but also possible al-Qaeda assaults.

Several attacks on Western interests have already taken place in the area. These include the bombing of an Israeli hotel and US embassies in Kenya and Tanzania.

As a result, America and its allies are increasingly worried about the anarchy and insecurity in Mogadishu, raising fears that terrorists may find a safe haven in Somalia from which they can organize attacks on the West.

For over 16 years, the Somali state of 10 million Sunnis has had no effective central government and attempts to restore law and order have repeatedly failed.

Several internationally mediated reconciliation conferences ended without tangible results. Analysts blame third parties for the breakdown of accords.

Equally, hardcore military interventions yielded no fruit.

In 1991, Bush senior sent the largest number of American troops ever to African soil, but withdrew after warlords backed by Islamists visited a devastating defeat on them. Since then the US has had no active foreign policy towards Somalia.

Lately, the US and their allies have intensified their vigilance along the Somali coast following claims of pro-al Qaeda elements in the country.

They also backed a coalition of anti-Islamist groups waging a war against the militants in Mogadishu. Washington denied any backing, but raised fears about the emergence of Islamism in Mogadishu.

In the immediate aftermath of Mogadishu's seizure, President Bush told the media that America's first concern, of course, is to make sure that Somalia does not become an al-Qaeda safe haven.

It is not yet clear why Americans renewed their concern in the region now after long slumber.

Reasons cited include the general global rekindling of interest in Africa mainly catapulted by the oil supply shortage caused by the ever-worsening situation in the Middle East. Somalia has proven oil reserves.

Whatever the case, the latest spate of violence is attributed to the renewed American interest in the Horn.

The international media has on several occasions aired accusations that Americans are backing the warlords in Mogadishu and Americans themselves have expressed moral support for what they called an "anti-terror alliance" in Mogadishu.

Although America has chosen indirect intervention in the region, it has not helped much as it is no secret that the vast majority of Muslims, including Somalis, are unfriendly to the Americans. Causes for these are, more often than not, related to the Middle East conflict.

Bearing witness to this is the fact that, despite the existence of Islamism in Somalia since 1991, at no time did radicals have overwhelming public support except when America came into the picture.

Observers in the region say that Americans underestimated the situation in Somalia.

A commentary in Nation, a highly respected paper in eastern Africa, states that "anti-US sentiments in Somalia ... outweigh any inter-clan animosity".

International Crisis Group, a think-tank based in Brussels, also warned that support for the warlords could switch public support in favor of radicals.

Days later, this comment turned into reality as clan militia in some parts of Mogadishu turned over their weapons to Islamists.

Public interviews conducted by the BBC Somali Service indicate that most people in Mogadishu now support the Islamic Courts Union, the movement that defeated the warlords. This reflects the locals' disapproval of America.

Ironically, America is the single largest contributor to the much-needed humanitarian aid in Somalia. One would then be compelled to ask why should Somalis be so negative to their donors?

The answer to this was echoed by BBC's Somali-born Rageh Omar, who correctly pointed out that Muslims have double identities.

Firstly they belong to the wider global Islam and secondly to their country of birth or adoption. However, if their country is seen to be against their faith, then the allegiance shifts.

This is what has happened in Somalia.

The warlords with whom different clans have affiliated themselves have become the enemy of their own subjects the minute Americans got involved. This should be among the many lessons Americans should learn about the Islamic world.

In essence, if America wants Muslims' friendship, and most importantly if the American war on terror is to succeed, there has to be some kind of change in America's foreign policy.

The historical American tendency of treating the symptom rather than the condition needs to be revisited. For Muslims to be friendly to the west, the Middle East conflicts and particularly the Israeli-Palestinian issue has to be resolved.

In that way Americans won't have to worry about al-Qaeda in Somalia and elsewhere winning the hearts of many Muslims, and Muslims won't have to worry about double identity and divided allegiance.

 Abdifatah Ismail is a Somali student studying at the University of Cape Town.

Source: CAPE ARGUS

June 13, 2006