Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Rome (Agenzia Fides)- Five years after the tragic events of that dramatic Tuesday in the skies of the United States, Africa is also beginning to come to terms with international terrorism. Terrorism which chose Africa to announce its presence. In August 1998, in two attacks in two east African capitals several hundred people were killed. The targets were the American embassies Nairobi (Kenya) and Dar es-Salaam (Tanzania) and most of the people killed were innocent African by-passers. It should be remembered that Bin Laden before taking refugee in Afghanistan was for years a guest of Sudan, which expelled him in 1996 as a gesture of opening to the United States. And precisely Bin Laden made a recent appeal for a Jihad holy war in Darfur (west Sudan).
The matter did not escape the attention of African countries meeting for the 5th ordinary session of the Executive Council of the African Union held in Addis Ababa 30 June to 3 July 2004, where it was agreed to open an African Centre of Study and Research on Terrorism with offices in the city of Algiers. The purpose of the Centre, an institution of the African Union Commission, is, according to official statements is to “strengthen the Union’s ability to prevent and fight terrorism”. Presenting the new Centre AU Commission spokesman Alpha Oumar Konaré said “the African Union intends to take the lead in efforts on the continent to fight and prevent terrorism. Terrorism is a universal threat and must be tackled with a universal criterion. This is why the African Union is working with members of the international community to strengthen international cooperation and create a common approach to eradicate the scourge of terrorism”.
The problem of terrorism in Africa was also at the centre of an international conference “Combating and Preventing Terrorism in Africa: Towards A Terror-Free Africa: Minimising Threats Posed By The Global Surge Of Terrorism And Terrorist Activities” held in late August in South Africa. Experts from all over the world discussed the matter and expressed concern that vast areas of Africa are an easy prey for extremism. Weak governments, growing poverty among vast sectors of society and the closeness with the Middle East are some of the factors which can make Africa an important cushion for international terrorism. Problems include those relative to terrorism as a factor which threatens to undermine the continent’s development, and the problem of the presence in Africa of networks of traffickers of arms, drugs and precious stones and money laundering used by terrorist organisations. The piracy afflicting several African coasts could also be a factor in encouraging terrorism to settle in the region. Most concerning is Somalia, deprived of a unitary state since 1991, where infiltration of extremist from the Middle East and Central Asia is reported.
In this situation the Pentagon is assessing the possibility of creating a military command dedicated exclusively to Africa. At present in fact American troops sent to Africa report to the Command for Europe, to which most African countries report, or to the Central command (Egypt and east Africa) or the Pacific command (Madagascar and Indian Ocean islands ). One command for the whole continent would demonstrate Washington’s increasing attention for Africa from where, by 2015, the United States will be getting one fourth of the hydrocarbons it consumes.
However human rights activists have voiced concern that in Africa, as in the rest of the world, the war on terrorism may be used to justify practices such as torture and arbitrary detention and oppression of those who oppose non democratic regimes. (L. M.) (Agenzia Fides 11/9/2006 righe 51 parole 639)
