U.S. Commander Visits Ethiopia

Gen. Tommy Franks, commander of U.S. forces in Afghanistan, discussed regional security and the war on terrorism with top Ethiopian leaders Saturday, a senior Ethiopian official said.

The visit by Franks, head of the U.S. military’s Central Command whose sphere of responsibility includes Ethiopia and other Horn of Africa nations, came amid concerns among U.S. and Ethiopian officials that neighboring Somalia could become a center for terrorist activities.

His talks with Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi and the military chief of staff, Lt. Gen. Samora Yenus, focused on regional security and the fight against global terrorism, the Ethiopian official said on condition of anonymity.

Franks has not spoken to reporters during an African tour that has also included stops in Eritrea and Kenya. The Central Command, based in Tampa, Fla., is responsible for U.S. military operations in 25 countries in the Persian Gulf, Asia and the Horn of Africa.

Since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, U.S. officials have named Somalia, which has been without an authoritative central government since January 1991, as a possible haven for members of the Al Qaeda terrorist network.

Both Ethiopia and Kenya have large ethnic Somali communities and long, porous borders with Somalia, which is controlled largely by clan-based factions rather than the 2-year-old transitional government.

The Ethiopian official did not give details of the talks, but Meles has made no secret of his concern about Al Ittihad al Islami, a Somali Islamic fundamentalist group that the United States says has ties to Al Qaeda, which he recently said has members in the transitional government.