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US Initiative To Win African Muslims’ Hearts
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A
library photo for Kansteiner (L) and Ugandan President Y.K.
Museveni
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By
Al-Khedr Abdul Baqi, IOL Correspondent
ABUJA,
July 18 (IslamOnline.net) – A proposed American initiative to
reach out to the Muslims in
Africa
's Sub-Sahara will not shine up the image of
Washington
tarnished by its policies in the Arab and Muslim world, an African
expert said on Sunday, July 18.
"Hatred
toward the United States is growing among the Muslims in Africa South
of the Sahara due to its unfair position on the Arab and Islamic
causes," Hadi Galo, an expert on Islamic affairs from Guinea,
told IslamOnline.net.
But
he admitted that some vulnerable Muslims could be lured by the
US
aid and relief work as they live below the line of poverty.
The
new proposed initiative was co-authored by an elite of American
politicians and former decision makers from the Democratic and
Republican parties who report to Congress.
The
joint committee included former
assistant secretary of state Walter Kansteiner and retired General
Carlton W. Fulford, deputy commander of the
US
troops in
Africa
.
The
initiative, parts of which were published on July12 by
South Africa
’s Inter Press Service news agency, is primarily designed to
undermine the activities of "terrorist" organizations
targeting the American US interests in the continent.
The
American experts suggested allocating $200 million to finance
educational programs and Islamic aid projects to do away with relief
work provided by mainly Saudi charities.
Furthermore,
they stressed the importance of increasing US investments in the
promising oil and gas sectors as latest projections show that
Africa
could supply the
United States
with 20 percent of its oil exports by 2015.
Improving
the living standards of the African people is also a pressing issue,
which serves best the
US
interests in the region, the American politicians said.
‘Fundamentalism’
The
proposed initiative warned against the spreading "Islamic
fundamentalism" in western
Africa
and the Horn of Africa.
It
said the Muslim population in the continent has exceeded 300 million
people, making
Africa
a fertile ground for recruiting "extremist Islamic
fundamentalists".
The
document voiced deep concerns about
Somalia
, regarding it a hotbed for "terrorist elements" and a
transit for Al-Qaeda operatives.
It
said
Africa
should remain high on the agenda of the
US
administration irrespective of the outcome of the November
presidential elections.
In
so doing, it recommended consolidating the
US
military participation in multi-national peacekeeping forces
throughout
Africa
and doubling the effort in countries dominated by Muslims.
Several
hundred US Special Forces are
active in east
Africa
to capture or kill suspected Al-Qaeda fugitives and other targets as a
new front in the so-called war on terror.
Between
200 and 500 Special Forces moved to a French military base at
Djibouti
in 2002.
The
US
army has recently conducted military drills with the Kenyan army near
the Somali-Kenyan borders.
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