27 Sep. - 3 Oct. 2001
Issue No.553
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Al-Ahram Weekly Online 27 Sep. - 3 Oct. 2001 Issue No.553 |
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Doing 'God's work'
As the US looks to Africa in its "war against terror," it should be careful not to see every Islamist as a terrorist. Gamal Nkrumah writes
Tens of thousands of impassioned Somalis have participated in impromptu anti-United States demonstrations across the war-torn East African country over the past two weeks, burning US and Israeli flags. Brandishing Kalashnikovs, they howled "Osama Bin Laden, the hero of Islam!"
In Mali, Senegal, and other West African countries with Muslim majority populations, celebrations were just as exultant. In Gusau, the capital of Zamfara state, one of half a dozen northern Nigerian states that recently instituted shari'a (Islamic law), the Islamic Youth Organisation of Zamfara organised anti-American rallies. There were clashes with police. Yet despite strong anti-US sentiment in the continent, the US should not assume that all Islamist organisations harbour terrorists.
It has become plain that there is an African twist to the horror tale that visited Washington and New York a fortnight ago. While world attention now focuses on a strike against Afghanistan, where Saudi dissident Osama Bin Laden took refuge in 1996 after a five year sojourn in Sudan, there is increased speculation that Bin Laden, or at least some of his associates, might be heading for Africa.
Bin Laden's Al-Qa'ida organisation is awash with Africa links. Ayman El-Zawahri, Bin Laden's apparent right-hand man, was identified by the FBI as the man behind the bombings of US embassies in Kenya and Tanzania in August 1998, suggesting he enjoys a network in both countries. Sobhi Abdel-Aziz Abu Setta, also known as Abu Hafs El-Masri, who reputedly runs Al-Qa'ida's training camps in Afghanistan, once resided in Sudan. Bin Laden himself is known to have visited Somalia regularly: it could make an ideal haven for him.
This won't suit Washington. The US record in Somalia is not a happy one. US intelligence was glaringly caught unawares a decade ago. "Stormin' Norman" Schwarzkopf, of Gulf War notoriety, had urged the US Congress to prop up the regime of the late Somali dictator Siad Barre even as Somalia was fast disintegrating. Little did the general suspect that Barre's time was up, and that the plush $35 million embassy the US had built in Mogadishu -- the largest and most expensive in all Africa south of the Sahara - was soon to be laid waste by whooping Somali gunmen.
The US won't be keen to go back, if, indeed, Bin Laden has found succour there. The post-Cold War period has shown conclusively that US fighting capabilities are best displayed in conventional wars, where the massive technological superiority the US enjoys can be deployed to best advantage. But hunting terrorists is something else. If the late Somali warlord, Mohamed Farah Aidid, could hide for over three months from 30,000 US-led troops, the slippery Bin Laden will be able to survive at least as long. And the longer he cocks a snook at the US military, the more his popularity will grow, inspiring other terror groups in their ambitions.
George Bush the father declared that the US marines he dispatched to Somalia in December 1992 were doing "God's work" and hence "cannot fail." But others, too, believe they are doing "God's work" in Africa. Bin Laden, Abu Setta and El-Zawahri were in Mogadishu during Operation Desert Storm, when 272 US embassy staff were hurriedly evacuated from the Somali capital. They had close connections with the Somali United Islamic Party which was, for a crucial few months in 1993, allied to the same General Aidid who routed the US troops in Somalia forcing them to evacuate the country, tails between their legs.
But that doesn't make all Islamists terrorists. If the US is to become more involved in the continent, it must start to understand dynamics on the ground with a little more care. According to a recently-released Economic Commission for Africa registry, some 15 per cent of Africa's officially registered NGOs are Islamist. Many have close links with Gulf Arab, US and European-based NGOs. Of the 4,028 registered NGOs in Nigeria, 523 are Islamist -- 13 per cent. In predominantly Muslim countries like Niger, Chad, Senegal and Mali, the proportion of Islamist NGOs is even higher: 42, 33, 31 and 28 per cent respectively. Even in countries where Muslims constitute a numerical minority (Kenya, Uganda, Malawi and Mozambique) there are large numbers of Islamist NGOs. In Uganda, 28 per cent of officially registered NGOs are Islamist, even though fewer than 20 per cent of the country is Muslim.
These organisations have flourished because of the US policy of advancing economic deregulation, privatisation and democratisation. As the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank's "structural adjustment programmes," compound economic hardship and social problems, and as the African governments weaken, NGOs mushroom and grassroots struggle for economic betterment intensifies. Islamist groups are particularly well poised to plough this furrow, having a handy ideology, and ready made networks among the dispossessed. Social solidarity funds such as zakat and takaful are distributed by Islamist NGOs who often also receive aid from overseas.
Given that they pick up the bill for the social costs of a world run in the interests of corporate America, the US would do well not to slander and undermine these organisations. Indeed, many of the Islamist donor organisations are not "African", they are based in the West. These range from the US-based Islamic American Relief Agency, International Muslim Relief Network and Mercy International, to the British-based World Ahlulbeit Islamic League. Others include Libya's World Islamic Call Society, the Saudi-based International Islamic Relief Organisation and Muslim World League. Arabic and Islamic schools are also multiplying across Africa. And in countries like Somalia, where the state has collapsed, NGOs practically run whole swathes of social services, health and education. In effect, they are essential to Africa's well-being and stability.
But there is a strong danger that, because some of these NGOs may provide convenient camouflage for Bin Laden and his allies, or because some are little more than Mafia groups, that the US chase, repress, and victimise them all. That would have terrible consequences for African communities, that rely on these organisations as a bulwark against poverty, ill-health and illiteracy.
Unfortunately, these vital NGOs are already under siege. Certain predominantly Christian African countries, with conspicuous Muslim minorities, have aped the anti-Muslim sentiments sometimes found in the West. Islamist NGOs face hostility, contempt and ostracism. Their activities are monitored. US investigators are currently scrutinising banking transactions in Kenya's second largest city, the ancient Muslim Indian Ocean port of Mombassa: with the approval of the Kenyan government. Some African states are reportedly supplying the US with names of suspect organisations and individuals. Moreover, the Sudanese authorities are purportedly helping FBI and CIA investigators currently stationed in Sudan track "terrorist suspects." If they catch real killers, all well and good, but the US should take care not to throw the baby out with the bath water.
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