U.S. Says Cash, Arms Flowing to Islamists in Somalia
Funds are flowing into Somalia from Saudi Arabia and Yemen to support the Islamic courts movement that seized the capital, Mogadishu, this month, a senior U.S. official said Thursday.
“I don’t want to say the Saudi government is supporting any particular court, but I do know that there is money coming in from Saudi Arabia,” Jendayi E. Frazer, assistant secretary of State for African affairs, told the House International Relations Committee.
She said some of the funds were coming from Somalian businessmen based in Saudi Arabia.
“There is money coming in from Yemen and arms from Eritrea and other places” to Somalia, she said.
Asked what the United States was doing about the flow of funds, she said, “We definitely want to reach out to the governments of Saudi Arabia, Yemen and others in the Middle East.”
The United States fears that the Conservative Council of Islamic Courts, formerly known as the Islamic Courts Union, wants to establish a Taliban-style regime in Somalia.
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