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American Morning

War on Terror Looks to Somalia

Aired January 16, 2002 - 09:07   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: The United States is looking at a number of places to pursue the war on terrorism. As we have been reporting, U.S. Special Forces are heading to the Philippines now. But the United States is also looking hard at Somalia.

We're joined now by CNN chief international correspondent Christiane Amanpour, who is in Mogadishu, where nerves are becoming a little frayed -- Christiane.

CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, indeed, the people here are really talking about nothing else other than the potential, they fear, of being next on the U.S. bombing list. It's the topic of conversation in all the afternoon sessions at the tea houses. It is the first question people asked us when we went out on the streets -- we arrived over the last couple days -- and people just came up to ask us, Are you coming here in peace, or for war? And we had to assure them we had no extra information, and that we were here just to take pulse of what's going on in as far as we could gather information here in Mogadishu.

What is certain is that since September 11, the new transitional government here, which really only controls parts of Mogadishu, as well as other factions that control other parts of Somalia, all these factions are now jockeying and trying to curry U.S. favor, trying to do all that they can, say all that they can, to avoid becoming a target of the United States, and perhaps to be able to become the U.S. proxy here. Everybody is trying to say that we are the best position to help the United States in trying to hunt down any al Qaeda.

But at the same time, they say there is no al Qaeda here, if ever there was -- there are certainly are not any people here now -- and that Osama bin Laden or any of his top henchmen would never find refuge here, because A) they were be entirely visible, and B), the Somalis would want to go after the reward that has been put up for these people, and C) that they have no sympathy with them or for what they did. In fact, extraordinarily, despite the debacle that ensued with the previous U.S. intervention in early '90s, Somalis of all stripes that we have been able to talk to say that they want to enter and open a new chapter in relations with the United States.

COOPER: Christiane Amanpour, live in Mogadishu, thank you very much for being with us this morning.

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