War may have already spread to Somalia

NAIROBI, Kenya -- Since American officials began saying there were links between Osama bin Laden's terrorist network and a Muslim group in Somalia, speculation has been rife that the lawless nation could be the next target in the U.S. war on terrorism.

The presence of naval ships from the U.S.-led coalition off the coast has only fueled such talk -- both in Somalia and abroad. Last week, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld denied reports that Washington had already decided on military intervention in Somalia.

But while there are no jets circling or bombs dropping, the United States may already be fighting its war on terrorism in Somalia: As American officials have emphasized, it's not just a shooting war.

The ships offshore -- some of them from the U.S. Navy -- have been stopping and searching civilian vessels, and Washington has effectively shut down the country's largest company for alleged ties to bin Laden.

Both actions fit the description of the war on terrorism President Bush declared following the Sept. 11 attacks, a conflict American officials say could range from military strikes against terrorist bases to shutting down financial networks used by terrorists.

Torn by violence for a decade, Somalia is still largely controlled by factions.

Walter Kansteiner, an assistant secretary of state for African affairs, recently called the chaotic Horn of Africa nation "a place where terrorist cells could find some kind of comfortable environment."

'No appreciable targets'

U.S. officials say they are intent on making sure that doesn't happen.

"If the war means not just a hard-pitched military operation, it has already been taken to Somalia," said Jonathan Stevenson, an analyst at the London-based International Institute for Strategic Studies.

"The idea that the U.S. is going to go in a big way seems silly to me," he said. "There are no appreciable targets."

Aside from Al-Barakaat -- the telecommunications and money-transfer company that was shut down -- the only other Somali organization that has publicly attracted U.S. attention is Al-Itihaad al-Islamiya, a Muslim group. U.S. officials say it has ties to bin Laden's al-Qaida network.

Following Sept. 11 there was some concern among American officials that Al-Itihaad represented a legitimate threat, said Ted Dagne, a specialist in African affairs at the U.S. Congressional Research Service. But he said that investigations into Al-Itihaad proved otherwise and that large-scale military strikes against the group are unlikely.

"Al-Itihaad does not really pose a major threat to U.S. interests," he said. "It doesn't have the ability to carry out a terrorist act globally."

Muslim clerics seeking to establish an Islamic state in Somalia set up Al-Itihaad in the late 1980s. When clan-based factions began fighting each other after the ouster of President Mohamed Siad Barre in January 1991, Al-Itihaad formed its own militia.