ANALYSIS

December 23, 2006

Observers of the Horn Africa are puzzled by the US’s lack of leverage in effecting a change in the behavior of states in the region that have consistently acted against US interests. Two obvious examples are Sudan and Eritrea. But a less known example is Djibouti which poses as a friend of the United States and at the same time supports well known terrorist organizations such as the Islamic Courts of Mogadishu. Up to now, the prevalent explanation among Horn of Africa watchers has been that the US tolerates Djibouti’s support for the Islamic Courts because the US figured that the benefits it gains from its base in Djibouti outweigh the risks posed by Djibouti’s support for terrorists. But more recently, another explanation has been gaining ground, which is that the US puts up with Djibouti’s links with Mogadishu’s terrorist courts because Djibouti passes some of the intelligence it gathers on the courts to the US. If the latter explanation is true, it would mean that Djibouti is spying on the US for its allies in Mogadishu and at the same time spying on the Islamic Courts for the United States. This way, Djibouti is misleading both the United States and the Islamic Courts into thinking that Djibouti is their true friend. The question is, how long will it take for either or both the United States and the Islamic Courts, to realize that Djibouti is a double agent.

Source: The Somaliland Times