US expands anti-terror campaign

As part of a quiet expansion of the anti-terrorist campaign beyond Afghanistan, US counterterrorist and intelligence operatives have been in action in the United Arab Emirates.

Washington officials said that the mission had been a greater success than anticipated, yielding information about a close associate of Osama bin Laden which could result in his capture.

The officials are saying that there could be more good news to come from other countries where terrorism is a going concern.

They are discouraging speculation that Saddam Hussein will be the next US military target, pointing instead to other, more manageable places and personalities.

Newsweek reports that the next target may be facilities in Somaliaor the Philippines. The US Navy has been conducting reconnaissance flights over Somalia, where intelligence officials say al Qaeda has at least one training camp. Some special forces are in the Philippines.

Other reports say Sudan and Yemen are on the list. Plans are being readied for specific "stiletto" strikes which could be launched soon after the New Year.

In Yemen, there are Islamic army camps and in Somalia the Al-Itihaad group, which has connections with Bin Laden. The extension of the war against terrorism is part of a broad enterprise by the White House to pre-empt further acts of sabotage on US targets. An elaborate new programme has been created under President Bush to identify foreign terrorists wherever they may reside.

The operations in the UAE, Somalia, Sudan and elsewhere are being co-ordinated with this new venture, called the Foreign Terrorist Tracking Task Force. The object is to prevent terrorists and their supporters from entering the US, as was the case in the suicide attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon.

All 19 hijackers entered the US legally. Demands are growing that the US "deal with" Saddam Hussein. But Secretary of State Colin Powell has argued that action against Saddam would create more problems than it would solve and that Iraq was being contained.

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