2 Suspected of Al Qaeda Ties Held in East Africa

Police in Somalia’s breakaway republic of Somaliland have detained two suspected Al Qaeda militants, raising to seven the number of suspected terrorists captured in two days, the regional leader said Saturday.

Dahir Riyale Kahin, president of Somaliland, said the two suspects were detained Friday in the capital, Hargeisa. He added that two other militants were on the run.

The suspects were part of a group that received terrorist training in camps run by Islamic extremists near Mogadishu, Somalia’s capital, Kahin said.

Four other suspects were captured late Thursday after a shootout. A fifth was arrested Friday 20 miles west of the city. Three police officers and one suspect were wounded in the clashes.

“The men pretended to be Islamic clerics and entered Somaliland through different regions four days before they all gathered in Hargeisa,” Kahin said.

Somaliland is not recognized internationally, and its rulers are keen to be seen as allies in the U.S.-declared war against terrorism.

Kahin said the United States and Britain should include Somaliland and others in the effort.

The former British colony of Somaliland and the Italian colony of Somalia merged in 1960 to form the independent republic of Somalia.

Somaliland set up its own administration after breaking away from the rest of Somalia when the Horn of Africa nation descended into anarchy because of clan-based fighting following the 1991 ouster of President Mohammed Siad Barre.