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US commander claims al-Qaeda basis in Somalia

Terror groups, including al-Qaeda, are exploiting lawless areas in the Horn of Africa region to hide, recruit and train members and possibly plan attacks, the head of the region's United States-led anti-terror force said.

"We find the terrorist networks here using the fact that there is a lot of ungoverned space in the Horn of Africa," Major-General Samuel Helland said on Monday.

"Because of this, it's very easy for a terrorist organisation to establish a presence. It's very easy for them to train, equip, organise and use the facilities that are present to gain a foothold.

"And I suspect that if we look very hard at the area, we'll see that there is some training going on for operations in other parts of the world," he said by phone from Djibouti, where he heads the Combined Joint Task Force overseeing counterterrorism activities in the Horn of Africa.

Since late 2002, Djibouti has hosted United States troops using the tiny state as a base to hunt down terrorist groups.

Helland took over the task force in May.

"I think we can say with some level of confidence that there are al-Qaeda operatives in the Horn of Africa," Helland said. "This is ungoverned space they thrive in."

Source: - Reuters, Dec. 28, 2004

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