Off to Africa, Clinton to pledge new military aid to combat extremists

WASHINGTON – On a seven-nation tour of Africa this week, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton will pledge more U.S. assistance, including military aid, to Somalia’s shaky government as it fights for survival against Islamist extremists.

U.S. officials said the Obama administration plans to go ahead with additional weapons supplies to double an initial provision of 40 tons of arms. The United States also has begun a low-profile mission to help train Somali security forces in neighboring Djibouti, said the officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivities surrounding U.S. involvement in the program.

Clinton will see Somalia’s beleaguered interim president, Sheik Sharif Sheik Ahmed, on Thursday in Kenya, the first stop on her trip. She intends to reaffirm American backing of Ahmed’s Transitional Federal Government.

Clinton’s meeting with Ahmed comes at critical juncture for Somalia, which has not had a functioning government since 1991 and is home to a growing radical Islamist movement known as al-Shabab. The group, which U.S. officials said has links to al-Qaida, was designated a terrorist organization by Washington last year.

It’s not clear if Clinton will make a specific contribution at the meeting. The administration’s top diplomat for Africa, Johnnie Carson, said last week that “we are prepared to provide additional assistance to the (Somali) government.” Carson added that the United States would also continue to support a small African Union peacekeeping force manned by soldiers from Uganda and Burundi.

Carson did not elaborate on the assistance. Other officials said a second batch of up to 40 tons of new weaponry, added to 40 tons that arrived over the past several months, will come from stockpiles held by African militaries. The United States would pay for it, officials said.

One senior official said the Pentagon, which has a base in Djibouti, is providing facilities such as tents for the training and is assisting with logistics.

Officials said the U.S. military is not conducting the training and will not put any forces in Somalia. The administration is making a concerted effort to avoid putting any American footprint in Somalia, which would risk alienating allies and add to charges by Islamic extremists of a Western takeover.