April, 2003

U.S. Arrangements in the Bab Al-Mandab Region

Khaled Abdel-Azim

The US has recently deployed almost 3,000 soldiers in Djibouti and Somalia as part of its efforts to prevent attacks from Al-Qaeda in the Bab Al-Mandab region. At the southern tip of the Red Sea, this area is a potential choke point in the world's main passage for oil. As a result, Djibouti has become home to the headquarters of the biggest and most modern intelligence centre in the Middle East and the Indian Ocean.

The United States' arrangements in the region are part of a broader strategy for the third Gulf war; securing the region means safe passage for the world's oil.

The various aspects of the strategy are:

- The US has the assistance of European fleets, especially the German and Spanish ones, to secure the vast area extending from Jeddah in the north of Bab Al-Mandab to Socotra in the Gulf of Aden to the south.

- The US needs to increase its influence in Bab Al-Mandab by securing more ports and airports in the region. With this aim, Washington seeks to equip Hargeisa airport and Berbera port and airport in northern Somalia.

- US intelligence is employing advisers from Ethiopia in its efforts to counter political Islam in the Horn of Africa. The US State Department gives Ethiopia carte blanche to go deep into Somalia in pursuit of the forces of the Islamic Union, Somalia's largest militant Islamic organisation, and joint US-Ethiopian teams have headed to Baidoa in Somalia, which is considered a potential breeding ground for the group.

- Following an explosion at an Israeli-owned hotel in Mombassa, Kenya, US-Kenyan manoeuvres took place on the Kenyan coast and Washington requested the Kenyan authorities to tighten security measures along the Somali-Ethiopian borders.

- The positioning of around 1,300 personnel in Djibouti is one of the main axes of the US strategy in Bab Al-Mandab. The USS Mount Whitney, now in Djibouti, is one of the US Navy's premier command and control platforms, and has previously served as a flagship for the Atlantic fleet. The 18,500-ton ship is equipped with advanced communications and intelligence equipment, including integrated laboratories for analysis of satellite images.

General Tommy Franks, commander-in-chief of the US Central Command, paid four visits to Djibouti last year, during which he did not meet the leader of the French garrison there. The US forces in Djibouti even made manoeuvres on the Djibouti coast without any prior consultation with the French stationed there. This was interpreted as a rejection of French authority in Djibouti, which dates back to the late 19th century.

Bab Al-Mandab has without a doubt gained strategic importance as a result of the events of 11 September 2001. The region has become a new focal point for Al-Qaeda from which it can launch attacks against global strategic interests. This is because oil, the main pillar of industrial civilisation and progress, has to be transferred through this region governed by primitive tribes that could act in collusion with those who wish to threaten international interests.