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WASHINGTON - United States forces are deployed off the coast of Somalia to stop members of that country's ousted Islamist government from fleeing, a State Department spokesman said.
"We would be concerned that no leaders who were members of the Islamic Courts which have ties to terrorist organisations including al Qaeda are allowed to flee and leave Somalia," spokesman Sean McCormack said. "We of course have a presence off the coast of Somalia and Horn of Africa to make sure there are no escape routes by sea where these individuals could flee." He declined to provide details about the US forces.
The Islamists have hidden in the hills between the Indian Ocean port of Kismayu and Kenya.
- REUTERS
