SOMALIA: AL-QAEDA RECRUITING IN MOGADISHU, REPORT SAYS

Mogadishu, 29 May (AKI) - The provisional Somali cabinet confirmed on Monday a report that terror network al-Qaida has recruitment centres in the capital Mogadishu, Kuwaiti news agency KUNA reported on Monday. Palestinian magazine al-Manar claimed, citing anonymous sources, that Islamic militants arrive in the capital from all over the country to join al-Qaeda. The militants are reportedly first recruited by a local network linked to Osama bin Laden's organisation before training in Mogadishu. US secret service agents are in Somalia to monitor the recruitment centres, the Palestinian magazine also said.

Somalia has been without an effective central government since President Siad Barre was overthrown in 1991. Today's administration, the 14th attempt to establish a cabinet since 1991, has no civil service or government buildings and faces a formidable task in attempting to bring reconciliation to a country divided into clan fiefdoms.