U.S. military tries to win over Kenya's Muslims

LAMU, Kenya -- In the medieval alleys of this old stone town, U.S. soldiers are lending a hand -- stitching up cuts, fixing the plumbing at a girls' school -- and watching every smile for signs of breaking ice.

But in coming to a Muslim community that U.S. officials fear is al-Qaida territory, the soldiers are struggling against powerful currents.

Many in Kenya's Muslim minority are deeply suspicious of the United States, their distrust fed by TV images of violence in Iraq and the West Bank, and by preachers telling them America is bent on destroying Islam.

Even the best intentions get misread. After the troops fixed the plumbing at the Lamu Girls' Secondary School, rumors spread that they had poisoned the water.

Al-Qaida operatives, Kenyans among them, have twice struck in the East African country, blowing up the U.S. Embassy in Nairobi in 1998 and attacking a coastal hotel frequented by Israelis a year ago. In June, a Kenyan allegedly belonging to al-Qaida reportedly told police of a plot to attack the new American embassy.

The hearts-and-minds strategy was launched in June, when the United States started deploying 30 soldiers from the 478th Civil Affairs Battalion to Lamu from their base in the republic of Djibouti to the north.

Despite U.S. and Kenyan assurances to the contrary, "everyone thought they were here to set up a base," said Ghalib Al-Alwiy Sharriff, owner of the popular Bush Gardens restaurant. "Lamu people are suspicious."

Arabic ties

Lamu was once ruled by sultans from the Arabian peninsula, and the town has benefited from Saudi funding of mosques, schools and the hospitals. Many in the town of about 20,000 speak basic Arabic, so they can understand Arab TV stations that "are not showing the good side of America," Sharriff said.

Apart from a steady stream of Iraq and West Bank footage, they also carry American TV shows such as "Buffy the Vampire Slayer," which don't go down too well in a deeply traditional society.

"The devil! It is from the devil!" shouted Fatuma, an elderly veiled woman, whose teenage daughter is a Buffy fan.

As for the soldiers, "I hear they are spies, but others say they are assassins," said Fatuma, who didn't give a surname. She cut short the conversation by brandishing a broom and stalking off into an alley.

It's in these alleys that al-Qaida suspects are known to have laid low between attacks.

American commanders say that by mixing into the 5-15 percent Muslim minority in Kenya, the soldiers can learn about an unfamiliar culture and showcase their own.

"When we reach out, both sides see the human angle," said Maj. Ralph Engeler of the 478th, speaking from Camp Lemonier in Djibouti.

Engeler said he could understand the skeptical reception in Lamu, but "I think that by having a better understanding of each others' cultures ... we may be able to deny terrorists the ability to prey on the more desolate areas, the poor areas, where they become embedded very easily."

In late July, the soldiers set up shop at Lamu's King Fahd District Hospital, named after the Saudi king, and began performing routine medical checkups and lifesaving surgery, including an emergency Caesarean section.

In early September, temporary medical and veterinary clinics opened in Wajir, an isolated town just 60 miles from Somalia, a nation also said to be an al-Qaida haven.

The soldiers -- who don't wear uniforms in town -- have fixed the school's plumbing and rebuilt the slippery waterfront steps to the wooden dhows that are the main coastal transport.

Lamu's ambivalence was evident in conversation with Fahima Ahmed, a soft-spoken 17-year-old student at the school who dismissed the rumors of poisoned water.

"Of course we are thankful that the soldiers are helping us," she said. "But that doesn't mean America is not killing Muslims in Iraq and Afghanistan. It does not mean Muslims and Americans can always be on the same side."

Capt. Jeff Rynearson, 36, who leads the Lamu team, measures success by counting T-shirts and bandannas featuring American flags.

"I've counted three already," he said one morning. "It's a good sign."

But it isn't always a reliable gauge.

"The steps are good!" exclaimed Ahmed Talo, but "America is no friend of Muslims. It is a Christian nation, working with the Jews."

As for the Stars and Stripes wrapped around his head, he said he only took it because he "got it for free."