Why this particular fishing village, among the hundreds along the East African coast, may soon receive a new well courtesy of the Pentagon is no secret.
It is not because the people here have to walk long distances and brave harsh temperatures for the limited drinking water available on Pate Island, although they do. No, the US Central Command is concerned more with the loyalties of the people of Siyu than with their thirst.
It was from remote Siyu, investigators say, that the bombing of a Mombasa hotel that catered to Israeli tourists and a simultaneous failed attempt to shoot down an Israeli-chartered airliner were planned in 2002. The well is one of many public-works projects being undertaken by the US military throughout the Horn of Africa aimed at changing the locals' view of a country many of them had learned to hate.
"This is the new way of fighting a war," said Major Brice Finney, commander of the US Army's 412th Civil Affairs Battalion, based in Djibouti. "The war on terrorism is not necessarily a shooting war."
Still, these are good deeds with a strategic edge. The main purpose of the mission is to monitor the vast coastline for terrorists fleeing Afghanistan and other spots across the Gulf of Aden. All of which explains why the US military is paying such close attention to Siyu.
The island is difficult to reach, especially at low tide. Dhows must navigate north from Lamu, one of Kenya's offshore islands, through a mangrove forest, carefully avoiding the rocks. The speck of a village, home to 1,500 people, is a couple of hours by foot from the island's main settlement. The perfect hide-out, in short, for an enterprising terrorist like Fazul Abdullah Muhammad, chief suspect in the Mombasa attacks and also wanted in connection with the 1998 bombing of the US embassy in Nairobi.
Muhammad is from Comoros,another island further south. But he arrived in Siyu sometime around 2002, married a local girl and began preaching at the local madrassa. Investigators say he also recruited his young bride's father and brother, both of whom are standing trial, into his al-Qaeda operation.
Muhammad disappeared after the Mombasa bombing and is in hiding. Now it is the US military preaching to the residents of Siyu, through its public-works projects.
Not just in Siyu but throughout the Horn of Africa, sick people line up by the hundreds for checkups by military doctors. Pastoralists bring their huge herds of cows and sheep and goats for deworming by military veterinarians. Parents cheer as military engineers refurbish their children's schools.
Despite its Peace Corps-like approach, the Pentagon still has some hearts and minds to win in its periodic visits to the island.
"I don't like them here," said Sheik Mahmoud Ahmed Abdulkadir, the imam of Pwani Mosque in nearby Lamu, who has urged his followers to shun the Americans. "I feel that they are my enemy. I have no intention of harming them, but I cannot show them a smile on my face. That is hypocrisy."
A young resident of Siyu, identifying himself as Ali Muhammad, said of the soldiers: "They want us to be on their side. If they do something good, that's fine. But we know why they're doing it."
People here have become used to the sight of soldiers in their midst. Most take a practical approach, welcoming US help with open arms and putting their political and religious beliefs to the side.
RSS