SOMALIA: THE NEW BATTLE GROUND for ISLAMIC FUNDAMENTISTS

News from Somalia in the last several months has been both disheartening and alarming to say the least. At first it was a looming severe drought then massive floods that swept through most of the dismally poor horn of African nation.

Now it is the all out conflict between the fragile government forces and the conglomerate of Islamic fundamentalist parties that control most of the country.

I am even hesitant to call Somalia a country because am not sure it meets the criteria to be recognized as one, aside from the fact that it shares geographical boundaries with other countries in the region.

Somalia plunged into seemingly abysmal turmoil following the ouster of its long time leader Siad Barre in 1991.

Since then, several different political and Islamic factions have fought for the control of this beleaguered nation resulting in hundreds of thousands lost human lives and millions of others as refugees around the world including here in the United States.

The chaos in Somalia prompted a late military intervention from the United Nations and ultimately the United States. Both interventions ended in disaster better memorialized by the Hollywood movie, "Black Hawk Down".

However one may choose to look at it, the military operation in Somalia both by the UN and US went down in history as a big failure.

But am more concerned by the silence and cold shoulder treatment that Somalia has received from the international community especially in the face of the ever-growing influence of the Islamic fundamentalists.

We seem to have forgotten that failed states are easy sanctuary to terrorist groups and other Islamic extremists just like Afghanistan was during the Taliban rule.

Given the situation in Somalia - lack of functioning government since 1991, tribal division in a country that is nearly 99 per cent Muslim, abject poverty- it has all he ingredients for Al Qaida sanctuary.

According to the US State Department, radical groups that attacked US Marines in Mogadishu leading to eventual American withdrawal from Somalia may have had links with Al Qaida.

Western journalists traveling in the region have reported that Al-Qaida and Osama bin Laden are a household names that can be found on T-shirts in open air markets as well as ring-tones on cell phone.

Traveling on vacation in East Africa recently, NBC's Chris Mathews said he was astounded to learn that Al-Qaida and Bin Laden were more popular with the common man in the streets than the leaders of the free world like George Bush or Tony Blair. That is certainly not good news when the world is fighting hard to ride itself of the Islamic fundamentalist forces that have in effect hijacked Islam, as we know it.

Recent media reports indicate deadly clashes between forces loyal to an extremist group known as The Union of Islamic Courts (UIC) which controls most of the southern part of Somalia and the weak government militia forces largely concentrated around the provincial seat in Baidoa.

It is believed that the government militia is supported by Ethiopia, which has had long border disputes with Somalia. Even with the Ethiopian support, experts believe the Islamist forces may still over power government forces and that raises the question - who is funding the UIC?

Early this week the UN Security Council adopted a resolution that will help strengthen the Somalia government

The US backed resolution proposes sending an African protection force to Baidoa and easing an international arms embargo on Somalia to help the government re-arm.

Although it comes a little too late, it is a move in the right direction. The Somali government direly needs all the help it can get.

But wait a minute, the Darfur problem in neighboring Sudan faces similar dilemma of lack of troops, proper funding and mandate. So, where will the help for Somalia come from? Unless the UN, AU (African Union) as well as the international community takes another hard look at the looming problem in the horn of Africa, the region will gradually slip into huge turmoil.

No western nation including the US wants to get bogged down in messy fighting in Africa. Moreover, I believe this is an African problem and there should be an African solution.

Most African scholars agree that the continent has all the manpower it needs to solve its seemingly never ending conflicts. All it needs is logistical support and training for the troops and, more important, funding for the operation.

Reorganizing the civil life can be left to the many Non-Governmental Organizations (NGO) that already compete for responsibilities on the ground. In fact the NGOs can also be used as funding conduit to circumvent the usual excuse that African governments are corrupt and untrustworthy.

This time around, let us not bury our heads in the sand thinking that because Somalia is not on our doorstep their problem does not concern us. It is increasingly becoming clear that the world is a global village and it is just a matter of time before what happens over there affects us over here.