Suspects' east African roots may hold clues
By Meera Selva, Africa Correspondent
Published: 27 July 2005
Two of the suspects in last Thursday's events come from the Horn of Africa,
a region the US has long seen as a crucible for al-Qa'ida terrorists.
Yasin Hassan Omar was born in Somalia, a country whose previous government
collapsed in 1991. Since then, it has been ruled by an anarchic collection
of feuding clans, radical Islamist groups and militiamen.
Ever since Somali gunmen killed American soldiers and shot down a Black Hawk
helicopter in Mogadishu in 1993, the US has suspected that money and guns
for al-Qa'ida flow freely through Somalia. Somalia's long, unpoliced
coastline is a haven for smugglers taking goods between sub-Saharan Africa
and the Middle East.
It is through Somalia that bombers attacked American embassies in Nairobi
and Dar es Salaam in 1998, and a hotel in Mombasa where Israeli tourists
were staying in 2002.
Since 2003 a new, more ruthless Islamic radical group has set up in
Mogadishu, led by Aden Hashi Ayro, a young militia leader who received
training in Afghanistan. This group made its presence felt by murdering four
foreign aid workers between October 2003 and April 2004.
The International Crisis Group accepts that the Islamic jihad movement has
made little headway in Somalia, considering its long years of civic conflict
and statelessness. But the think-tank warns: "If Somalia's protracted crisis
is allowed to persist, its stateless territory will continue to attract
criminal and extremist elements."
The second London bombing suspect, Muktar Said Ibrahim, also known as Muktar
Mohammed Said, comes from Eritrea, a less obvious base for terrorism. Since
it gained independence from Ethiopia in 1993, Eritrea has been keen to be
perceived as a responsible member of the international community. It is
currently part of America's "coalition of the willing", but neighbouring
countries have pointed out that several rebel groups, including the Sudan
Liberation Army, which fights the Sudanese government in Darfur, have set up
training camps within its borders.
The country's contact with radical Islamic movements comes from the Eritrean
Islamic Jihad Movement. Eritreans were largely sympathetic to government
claims that the movement was a terrorist cell that should be destroyed, but
President Isaias Afwerki has since labelled so many of his political
opponents terrorists that the term has lost meaning.
Moderate Muslims within Eritrea have also become increasingly radicalised
after the government interned Muslim elders without trial for over two
years. The Eritrean government, which was once seen as the Horn of Africa's
greatest hope of modernisation, has become increasingly paranoid.
Journalists are rarely granted access to the country and relations with
Ethiopia have disintegrated over a border conflict.
Two of the suspects in last Thursday's events come from the Horn of Africa,
a region the US has long seen as a crucible for al-Qa'ida terrorists.
Yasin Hassan Omar was born in Somalia, a country whose previous government
collapsed in 1991. Since then, it has been ruled by an anarchic collection
of feuding clans, radical Islamist groups and militiamen.
Ever since Somali gunmen killed American soldiers and shot down a Black Hawk
helicopter in Mogadishu in 1993, the US has suspected that money and guns
for al-Qa'ida flow freely through Somalia. Somalia's long, unpoliced
coastline is a haven for smugglers taking goods between sub-Saharan Africa
and the Middle East.
It is through Somalia that bombers attacked American embassies in Nairobi
and Dar es Salaam in 1998, and a hotel in Mombasa where Israeli tourists
were staying in 2002.
Since 2003 a new, more ruthless Islamic radical group has set up in
Mogadishu, led by Aden Hashi Ayro, a young militia leader who received
training in Afghanistan. This group made its presence felt by murdering four
foreign aid workers between October 2003 and April 2004.
The International Crisis Group accepts that the Islamic jihad movement has
made little headway in Somalia, considering its long years of civic conflict
and statelessness. But the think-tank warns: "If Somalia's protracted crisis
is allowed to persist, its stateless territory will continue to attract
criminal and extremist elements."
The second London bombing suspect, Muktar Said Ibrahim, also known as Muktar
Mohammed Said, comes from Eritrea, a less obvious base for terrorism. Since
it gained independence from Ethiopia in 1993, Eritrea has been keen to be
perceived as a responsible member of the international community. It is
currently part of America's "coalition of the willing", but neighbouring
countries have pointed out that several rebel groups, including the Sudan
Liberation Army, which fights the Sudanese government in Darfur, have set up
training camps within its borders.
The country's contact with radical Islamic movements comes from the Eritrean
Islamic Jihad Movement. Eritreans were largely sympathetic to government
claims that the movement was a terrorist cell that should be destroyed, but
President Isaias Afwerki has since labelled so many of his political
opponents terrorists that the term has lost meaning.
Moderate Muslims within Eritrea have also become increasingly radicalised
after the government interned Muslim elders without trial for over two
years. The Eritrean government, which was once seen as the Horn of Africa's
greatest hope of modernisation, has become increasingly paranoid.
Journalists are rarely granted access to the country and relations with
Ethiopia have disintegrated over a border conflict.
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