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By PAULINE JELINEK and LOLITA
C. BALDOR
WASHINGTON, June 25, 2009 -- The Obama administration has decided to
bolster efforts to support Somalia's embattled government, U.S.
officials say, by providing money for weapons and helping the military
in neighboring Djibouti train Somali forces.
The goal is to stem insurgent advances in the Horn of Africa. But the
plan would commit the U.S. to a greater embrace of a shaky government
atop one of the world's most chaotic states.
An administration review of U.S. policy toward Somalia found an urgent
need to supply the Somali government with ammunition and weapons as it
struggles to confront increasingly powerful Islamic militants .
Officials said the U.S. would not conduct the training and that the U.S.
military would not be in Somalia. The U.S. would provide logistical
support for the training, and provide arms to the Somalis.
Several U.S. officials spoke about the emerging plan on condition of
anonymity because the details have not yet been finalized.
Alarmed by terrorists' gains in Somalia, the administration decided it
needed to do more to support Somalia's transitional federal government,
officials said. They said the U.S. has agreed to reimburse other African
nations, primarily Uganda, that will transfer small arms and ammunition
to Somalia. To date, officials said, only ammunition has been shipped.
Somalia's violent insurgency has spilled over onto U.S. soil, raising
the fear that a failed state there could affect U.S. security. Young
Somali-American men have disappeared from the Minneapolis region and are
believed to have traveled to Somalia to fight with al-Shabab militants.
One strapped on explosives last fall in a coordinated attack in Somalia,
becoming the first U.S. citizen to act as a suicide bomber.
U.S. counterterrorism officials say it is a disturbing pattern, one that
mirrors al-Qaida methods and could spawn homegrown insurgents and
suicide bombers in the U.S.
Al-Shabab, a terrorist organization whose name means "the Youth," has
been gaining ground as Somalia's Western-backed government crumbles. The
group's goal is to establish an Islamic state in Somalia.
Somalia's government controls only a few blocks of the capital, comes
under regular attack from the militants and depends on thousands of
African Union troops to protect important government installations.
Sheik Sharif Sheik Amed, a moderate Islamist, was elected president in
January in hopes that he could unite the country's feuding factions, but
the violence has continued.
The U.S. meanwhile, has acted to increase its involvement in Africa. A
new Africa Command within the Defense Department helps coordinate aid
across the continent, with a particular emphasis on the ungoverned
territories in the north and east where Islamic extremists are working
to gain a foothold.
Associated Press writer Robert Burns contributed to this report
Source: The Associated Press
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