Somali 'al-Qaeda leader' arrested

Somalia is seen as a safe haven for Islamic militants

The authorities in the breakaway region of Somaliland say they have arrested four militants, including an internationally known al-Qaeda member.

The men were part of a Mogadishu-based cell, Somaliland officials say.

The arrests follow a raid last Thursday on a house in the capital, Hargeisa. Three policemen were injured in a shootout.

Since the attacks on the United States on 11 September 2001, Western countries have seen Somalia as a possible safe

haven for Islamic militants.

Over the weekend, two clerics were arrested. Another man was detained last Friday, taking the total number of arrests to seven.

Two more men are on the run, said Somaliland President Dahir Riyale Kahin.

Elections

"Islam is a religion of peace, but terrorists, like chameleons, change colours and try the one they can easily blend with," he said.

Interior Minister Ismail Adan Osman has ordered all foreigners without legitimate interests to leave Somaliland.

He said the arrested men were planning attacks to disrupt elections scheduled for 29 September.

He said the police seized a large cache of weapons and communications equipment following an overnight shoot-out.

The interior minister did not give the names of those arrested but said one man had been trained in Afghanistan and was "on the list of internationally wanted terrorists".

The Somaliland authorities accuse terror cells based in Mogadishu of carrying out four killings of expatriates in the territory in 2003 and 2004.

In July, the International Crisis Group think-tank said an al-Qaeda cell had been set up in Somalia, which has had no effective government since warlords overthrew the government of Mohamed Siad Barre in 1991.

"The threat of jihadi terrorism in and from Somalia is real," the ICG said.

It is believed that those behind the al-Qaeda-linked attacks in Kenya in 1998 and 2002 got logistical support - and maybe more - from Somalia.

Somaliland declared independence from the rest of Somalia in 1991, but its independence is not internationally recognised.