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04/06/2006:
"Somalia may be proxy US-Islam battleground"
NAIROBI, April 4 (Reuters) - Somalia's worst fighting in years suggests the failed Horn of Africa state may become a new proxy battleground for Islamist militants and the United States.Washington sees Somalia as a terrorist haven and backs the warlords in Mogadishu, which may have galvanised the Islamists against them both, analysts say.
A battle in March pitted warlords calling themselves the Anti-Terrorism Coalition against Islamic fighters backed by the influential Islamic courts. As many as 90 people were killed in the fighting.
A widely held perception that the United States backs the warlords with weapons, money and surveillance prompted Islamist hardliners to start a fight that killed 37 people in February, hours after the coalition announced its presence.
What has many worried is that these two battles were seen as a fight between the United States and Islam.
The U.S. backing for the warlords has, in fact, strengthened the position of the Islamists and "helped extreme elements to get the Somali public behind them," an official involved with Somalia told Reuters.
While the Islamic courts are not viewed as extremists, they and their supporters are seen as sympathetic to al Qaeda and foreign fighters who operate in Somalia, the official said.
Others say the Islamic courts, whose leaders have blamed the United States for supporting warlords, want to fight any attempt to create a government that would undermine their authority.
alertnet.org
