Addis Ababa 01, Feb.07 ( Sh.M.Network) - The United States believes that SomaliaÂ’s hard-line Islamists forcefully driven out of the country by government troops backed by Ethiopian military forces may reorganize themselves in Saudi Arabia, Eritrea and Yemen, Jendayi Frazer, US assistant secretary of state for African affairs, said on Wednesday.
| They sure can't regroup in Somalia, at least til the Aethiops leave ... |
Speaking to the Financial Times in Addis Ababa, Ms Frazer said it was too early to tell who among the Islamist leadership had survived Ethiopia's invasion last month and subsequent US air strikes on alleged affiliates of al-Qaeda. "It is going to take some time for the fog of war to clear up and we have an ability to see who is still operating and how they are operating," she said.
But she was "very concerned" that extremist elements from among the defeated Islamists were "trying to reconstitute themselves either out of Saudi Arabia or Eritrea", and that international jihadist networks would see this as an opportunity. "We have to engage with the Saudi government and their services to try to prevent that from happening as well as engage regionally."
Ms Frazer described Eritrea, with whom the US has deteriorating relations, as a "source of regional instability". |