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US concerned about Shebab move with Al-Qaeda
The United States said Friday it is more concerned than ever about the danger posed by Somalia's extremist Shebab fighters now that they have apparently joined ranks with Al-Qaeda.
"It's bad and it's dangerous and it's further to our grave concerns about al-Shebab and the danger it poses in that part of the world," State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said.
But she said she was referring to press accounts that could not be independently verified.
Al-Qaeda chief Ayman al-Zawahiri announced in a video message posted on jihadist forums on Thursday that Shebab fighters had joined ranks with the terror network.
Shebab insurgents, fighting to overthrow a fragile Western-backed transitional government in the war-torn Horn of Africa country, proclaimed their allegiance to bin Laden in a video documentary distributed in 2009.
They control large parts of central and southern Somalia but are facing increasing pressure from government forces and regional armies.
Armies from neighboring countries are converging on the Shebab -- Kenyan forces in the south, Ethiopian soldiers in the west, and an African Union (AU) force in Mogadishu made up of 10,000 troops from Uganda, Burundi and Djibouti.
Asked if Washington will re-examine how it supports the AU force following the news, Nuland replied: "Obviously, we're looking at what the implications might be. But I don't want to predict any changes in policy at the moment."
