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Whosnext { November 25 2001 } Original Source Link: (May no longer be active)
http://www.sunday-times.co.uk/article/0,,9002-2001544397,00.htmlhttp://www.sunday-times.co.uk/article/0,,9002-2001544397,00.html
SUNDAY NOVEMBER 25 2001
US targets three more countries
JAMES CLARK, NICK FIELDING AND TONY ALLEN-MILLS,
WASHINGTON
THE war on terrorism is to be extended to three new countries as
soon as the campaign in Afghanistan is over.
Targets linked to Osama Bin Laden in Somalia, Sudan and Yemen
will be at the top of the hit list, according to senior sources in London
and Washington.
Tony Blair and President George W Bush have agreed that the
momentum created by the anti-terror coalition's successes must be
maintained with swift action elsewhere.
"We have the wind at our backs and we don't want to lose it," said a
senior Washington source.
Preparations are under way in all three countries.
Intelligence officers from both Britain and America have been on the
ground to gather information about terrorists and ascertain their links
with Bin Laden's Al-Qaeda organisation.
MI6, the British secret intelligence service, has played a leading role.
Security sources emphasised their expertise and indicated that
"Humint" — intelligence from human sources — was proving critical.
The British and their CIA counterparts have been assembling
evidence to be used as the basis for "stiletto" attacks on Bin Laden's
associates and terrorist training camps. Military preparations have
also begun, though plans to strike specific targets have not yet been
finalised.
The first targets, according to British sources, could be hit as early
as late January if the war in Afghanistan is nearing its final stages by
then.
Yemen, where 17 American sailors died in a suicide bomb attack on
the USS Cole at Aden last year, is considered the country most
likely to feel Washington's wrath. Al-Qaeda supporters, including
many Afghan veterans, have established bases in the northern
mountains, where they run training camps.
The targets may include Aden Islamic Army camps identified by
eight British fundamentalists who were convicted in Yemen over their
part in a terrorist campaign that including the kidnapping and killing of
four tourists in 1998.
American officials hope to secure the co-operation of the Yemeni
president, Ali Abdullah Saleh, who visits Washington this week. In
Sudan, where Bin Laden lived until 1996, the Bush administration is
expected to pursue followers of Hassan al-Turabi, a former
parliamentary speaker now under house arrest. Al-Turabi, whose
niece is married to Bin Laden, gave him sanctuary for five years.
Possible targets in Somalia include the Al-Itihaad group, which has
been linked to Bin Laden through Muhammad Atef, his deputy, who
was killed by an American missile in Afghanistan.
The plans to widen the war emerged as it was disclosed that two
British special force soldiers were shot and wounded in the hunt for
Bin Laden. SAS and Special Boat Squadron troopers have been
involved in skirmishes in several areas, most recently near the
Taliban's southern stronghold of Kandahar. The campaign in northern
Afghanistan appeared to be reaching its climax yesterday as Arab
supporters of Bin Laden prepared for a last stand in Konduz, despite
being deserted by hundreds of Taliban fighters who switched sides to
join the Northern Alliance laying siege to the city.
Officials believe that extending the campaign to Sudan, Somalia and
Yemen will keep Al-Qaeda on the run. A Ministry of Defence
spokesman said last night: "We are focused on Afghanistan.
However, this is part of a wider war on terror, wherever that may be,
so it should not be a surprise to learn that military planning may be
under way in other parts of the world. While we cannot confirm
targets, the three countries mentioned have all been linked to terrorist
activity."
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