US to set up African military command

The US said on Tuesday it was to set up a new US regional command to oversee military activities in Africa in a move reflecting US fears that some African nations may be harboring suspected terror groups.

"This new command will strengthen our security cooperation with Africa and create new opportunities to bolster the capabilities of our partners in Africa," President George W. Bush said in a statement.

US Secretary Robert Gates earlier told the Senate Armed Services Committee that the president had decided to create the new command to replace "an outdated arrangement left over from the Cold War."

The Africa Command would "oversee security, cooperation, building partnership capability, defense support to non-military missions and, if directed, military operations on the African continent," Gates said.

The US is increasingly concerned that some African countries are providing sanctuary for militant groups, and is keen to prevent east Africa from taking over from Afghanistan as a safe haven for the al-Qaeda network.

"We will be consulting with African leaders to seek their thoughts on how Africa Command can respond to security challenges and opportunities in Africa," Bush said.

He added Washington would also consult with African allies on where the new regional command should be based with the aim of it being in place by the end of the 2008 fiscal year.

Current for Africa within the Pentagon is shared out among three regional commands.

Until the continent has fallen mainly under the US European Command, which also has taken on new responsibilities in recent years with growing relations with Russia and the former Soviet republics.

Central Command, which oversees the Middle East, is responsible for the Horn of Africa while Pacific Command has watch over Madagascar.

A top State Department official said on Tuesday that Washington remained concerned that terror suspects affiliated with the al-Qaeda network were using Somalia as a "safe haven."

"Somalia's continued exploitation by terrorist elements threatens the stability of the entire Horn of Africa region," said Jendayi Frazer, assistant secretary of state for African affairs.

"We will therefore take strong measures to deny terrorists safe haven in Somalia, as well as the ability to plan and operate from Somalia," she pledged.

Senegal announced that US chiefs of staff were due to meet with their counterparts from nine countries in western Africa in Senegal yesterday to discuss the fight against suspected terror groups.

The lone US Army base on the continent is stationed in Djibouti, where some 1,700 troops are billeted in a former headquarters of the French Foreign Legion.

About soldiers from the base, which was set up four years ago, are currently deployed in Ethiopia to train Ethiopian troops.

The US Navy aircraft carrier Dwight D. Eisenhower is also deployed with a air-naval group in the Indian Ocean off the coast of Somalia.

Critics US policy say that the US is inflating the influence that al-Qaeda has in Somalia in order to pursue its own geo-political goals.