They deny the charges but US officials maintain that at least three men who participated in the 1998 al-Qaeda bombings of the US embassies in Kenya and Tanzania are living in Somalia under the protection of the Islamists.
Fears of a Taliban-style takeover of Somalia have been rising since the Islamists seized Mogadishu in June after months of fierce battles with a US-backed alliance of warlords and have since rapidly expanded their territory.
Osama bin Laden himself has hailed the activities of Somali Islamists, praising them for driving out US and UN peacekeepers sent to the lawless Horn of Africa nation in the mid-1990s.
In July, an audiotape attributed to bin Laden warned the world against sending troops to shore up the government's limited authority, something the administration has repeatedly called for over the objections of the Islamists.
RSS