Posted on 10/29/2002 4:53:43 PM PST by Willie Green
For education and discussion only. Not for commercial use.
WASHINGTON, Oct. 29 (UPI) -- Between 700 and 800 Marines are operating in Djibouti, a tiny country in the Horn of Africa. The Marines are there for potential anti-terrorist missions, U.S. Central Commander Gen, Tommy Franks told reporters Tuesday.
"We do have more forces in that region, down around Djibouti," Franks told a Pentagon news conference. "Well, as we have better refined and defined our relationships and what we're looking at, it seems to make sense to us to put this capability -- Marine capability -- in the vicinity of Djibouti to work with countries in the Horn of Africa."
Some of the Marines are at sea off Djibouti while others are on land, most likely at a French base. News reports in September said there were about 800 U.S. forces in the region, primarily special forces but also CIA officers.
"Having that force there gives us the ability to increase our exercise work with all those nations," Franks said.
Djibouti is bordered by Somalia, Eritrea, Ethiopia, the Red Sea, and the Gulf of Aden.
The movement of U.S. forces to the region reflects the widespread presence of al Qaida and other alleged terrorist groups, who are believed to be using a no-man's-land in Yemen and parts of Somalia as a base of operation since being expelled from Afghanistan.
Franks also told reporters the Central Command exercise to send a new, mobile headquarters forward is due to take place for about a week in December, 600 to 1,000 members of his headquarters staff deploying to Qatar.
The command post exercise is of keen interest to Iraq-watchers, as it could be used as a forward operating command in the event of a war.
Franks said he has not decided whether the communications gear will remain in Qatar or be packed up and brought back to his base in Tampa, Fla.
"Does it give us increased capability? You bet. It gives us increased capability. How long will it be there? Well, we'll make that decision when the time comes," Franks said.
Just a day after the Defense Department confirmed the release of four prisoners from its detention facility at Guantanamo Bay Naval Base in Cuba, Franks said U.S. forces in Afghanistan have sent another 20 to 25 to the camp in the past few days.
The number of prisoners in Afghanistan has steadily dwindled. Where there were once two standing jails in Kandahar and Bagram, now only the Bagram facility holds detainees.
There are between 20 and 30 people there now from six to 10 nations, Franks said.
U.S. Military Grows in Djibouti (9/29/2002)
US Forces May Soon Leave Djibouti (9/21/2002)
"Al-Qaeda's Yemeni membership is the third largest after the Egyptians and the Algerians. After al-Qaeda was formed, Osama worked closely with the Islamic Army of Aden, also known as al-Abyan, and an al-Qaeda training camp was set up in the southern village of Mudiyah.
"As an alternative base to either Sudan or Afghanistan, Osama long thought of moving to Yemen. Only some 35% of Yemen is under the permanent influence and control of the government, so its state of lawlessness would have made it an ideal base for al-Qaeda."
"... However, al-Qaeda developed close relations with Ahmed Mohammed Alia al-Hada, a Yemeni Afghan veteran and close friend of Osama ... al-Hada's son-in-law, Khalid al-Midhar, an al-Qaeda member, participated in two operations, including planning the U.S.S. Cole attack. He was also commander of the cell that hijacked the aircraft that crashed into the Pentagon on 9/11. Another son-in-law of al-Hada was tasked to enter the US in late 2001/early 2002 by al-Qaeda to conduct a suicide operation together with a team of thirteen others. The plot was uncovered in mid-Febuary 2002, but the second suicide squad remains undetected as of April 2002."
Now, as far as Africa goes:
"While in Khartoum, Osama reportedly developed a close working relationship with Sheikh Arafa, the leader of the political wing of the Eritrean Islamic Jihad Movement, who was living in a guesthouse in Khartoum ... within al-Qaeda, the Eritrean Islamic Jihad Movement is also known as Jamal Jihad.
"The NIF [Note: National Islamic Front, the Sudanese government] supported nearly a dozen Eritrean Islamist and other opposition forces beginning in the 1990s, including the Eritrean Islamic Jihad Movement, Eritrean Liberation Front, Eritrea Kunama Movement, and the Red Sea Democratic Organization ... al-Qaeda also established links with these and other African Islamist political parties and groups, especially in 1992-6. The plight of the Muslims of the Ogaden, an area situated southeast of Ethiopia, with Kenya to the south, Somalia to the east, and Dijbouti to the north, came to the attention of Osama soon after he established himself in Khartoum in December 1991. It is an exclusively Muslim area with a long history of hostility to outsiders, where Arabic and Somali are spoken. Because it is a lawless zone beyond the reach of government agencies, al-Qaeda was quick to establish a presence there. Al-Qaeda operatives made several visits to Ogaden and met representatives of Jamaat ul-Itisam Bilkitab Wassuna (Islamic Union of the Mujahideen of Ogaden). Since the Ethiopian army conducted operations there in 1992, 1993, and 1995, the people of Ogaden have increasingly looked to Islamism to defend themselves ...
"Although al-Qaeda had no hand in establishing the Islamic Union of the Mujahideen of Ogaden, it supported the group, which is today is largely based in western Somalia. Gradually the mujahideen's capabilities increased and they even struck in the Ethiopean capital, Addis Ababa. On July 8, 1996, they attempted to assassinate both the transportation minister and Abdul Majeed Hassan, the Ethiopian government's representative in Ogaden. In mid-1997, the various Islamist groups formed a five-member alliance - Oromo-Somali-Afar Liberation Alliance (OSALA) - also the Islamic Union of the Mujahideen of Ogaden - which brought together the various al-Qaeda affiliate groups of Somalia, western Somalia, and Ethiopia ...
"... Somalia, a "failed state," has no official government and is divided into three parts, each "ruled" by local warlords. Despite denials from Somali political leaders, al-Qaeda has been transporting men and material through its vast, unguarded coastline for many years. It was also suspected that al-Qaeda established a training camp and operational base on the remote island of Ras Komboni ...
"... As of early 2002, al-Itihaad al-Islamiyyah had withdrawn from the ports of Merka and Kismayo and the inland center of Luuq, which its 3,000 armed fighters had dominated, using it as a staging-post till the mid-1990s for sorties into Ethiopia and Kenya ... al-Itihaad al-Islamiyyah has established a presence in northeastern Somalia, operating from the semi-autonomous region known as Puntland. Through its port, Bosaso, al-Itihaad al-Islamiyyah is also reported to have sent volunteers to fight with al-Qaeda in Afghanistan."
Seems reason enough for our troops to be in Djibouti.
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