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The War Profiteers - War Crimes,
Kidnappings, Torture and Big Money |
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January 12th,
2007 - Somalia Targets Survived, U.S. Says |
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Somalia Targets Survived,
U.S. Says An official notes that this week’s airstrike was aimed not at three Al
Qaeda suspects but at a fourth operative. By Edmund Sanders Los Angeles Times January 12, 2007 Nairobi, Kenya - None of the
three most-wanted Al Qaeda suspects believed to be hiding in southern Somalia
were killed by a U.S. airstrike this week, a senior U.S. official here said
Thursday. "The three high-value
targets are still of intense interest to us," said the official, who
requested anonymity because he was not authorized to speak on the record. The attack Sunday night by a
U.S. Air Force AC-130 gunship killed eight to 10 people believed to be linked
to the Al Qaeda terrorist network, the official said. Previous reports from other
U.S. and Somalian sources suggested that the dead might include suspects in
the 1998 bombings of U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania, or the 2002
bombing of a Kenyan seaside resort and a subsequent missile attack against an
Israeli airliner. In an interview Thursday with
the BBC's Somalian-language news service, U.S. Ambassador to Kenya Michael E.
Ranneberger confirmed that Fazul Abdullah Mohammed, who is wanted by the FBI
for his alleged role in the 1998 attack, had not been captured or killed. The senior official said the
other two Al Qaeda suspects also remained at large, probably hiding in
Somalia. They are Abu Taha al Sudani
of Sudan, who is accused of planning the 2002 Paradise Hotel bombing in
Kenya, and Saleh Ali Saleh Nabhan of Kenya, also wanted in connection with
the hotel attack. The official said that the
three men were not the primary targets of Sunday's attack, which instead was
aimed at a separate but significant Al Qaeda operative who was moving with a
group of about 20 individuals. According to some reports, a
small number of U.S. special forces were pursuing the suspects in Somalia,
but the official denied those reports. Amid mounting criticism over
reports of ongoing U.S. airstrikes and claims that scores of civilians have
died, Ranneberger launched a public-relations offensive Thursday, insisting
that the U.S. launched only one strike and that there were no civilian
casualties. "It's been troubling to
see these reports about bombing and all these activities killing
civilians," the ambassador told the BBC. "I can tell you
categorically that no civilians were killed or injured as a result of that
action." U.S. involvement in Somalia,
its first overt military intervention in the country since 1994, has set off
a flurry of criticism and anti-American sentiment throughout East Africa. The
banner headline Tuesday in one of Kenya's largest daily newspapers read:
"U.S. Warplane Rains Death on Somalia." Somalian government
officials and witnesses claim scores of civilians have been killed by ongoing
airstrikes in more than half a dozen villages in southern Somalia, with
reports of new strikes as late as Wednesday. Officials suspect Ethiopia,
which sent 4,000 troops to Somalia last month, may be involved in some of the
strikes. The Ethiopian government has not commented. Watira Suldan Farah, a
mother of five, said Thursday that she fled her home village of Butiya shortly
before it was attacked Wednesday by a "large white plane with a black
tail. I don't know what kind of plane it was. People were saying it was an
AC-130. All I know is that it was doing a terrible bombing." Another report said five
clan elders trying to reach the port city of Kismayo on Wednesday were shot
to death by a gunship. "We are victims,"
said Hussein Tarabi, who said he lost 30 cattle in an airstrike against his
village Wednesday. "We ask the U.S. government to stop the genocide and
give us compensation. This is against humanity." On Wednesday, Amnesty
International said the reports of heavy civilian casualties raised questions
about whether the U.S. military had violated international law. But U.S. officials insist
they have not carried out any additional airstrikes since Sunday. The senior
official said it was possible that Ethiopia was engaged in air attacks in
pursuit of fighters with Somalia's Islamic Courts Union. Ethiopia helped Somalia's
transitional government crush the once-powerful alliance of religious leaders
and continues to launch operations to capture or kill remnants of the
Islamist movement. Somalian politician
Abdirashid Mohamed Hidig said he witnessed airstrikes Tuesday, which he said
were conducted by the U.S. and Ethiopia. He told reporters that at least 50
civilians were killed. Abdirahman Dinari, spokesman
for the transitional government, dismissed such reports. Though Dinari
previously told local reporters that the U.S. attacks were continuing through
Tuesday, he said Thursday that there had been only one U.S. strike. "The only casualties we
know about are the eight people," he said. "The rest is propaganda
intended to mislead the people." Dinari denied that Ethiopia had
conducted any airstrikes in Somalia. U.S. officials said
operations to capture or kill the three Al Qaeda suspects would continue.
Five ships have been dispatched to the region, including the aircraft carrier
Dwight D. Eisenhower and the guided missile cruiser Anzio. External link: http://tinyurl.com/ya497l |