“The leaders of Sudan and Uganda warned Somalia on Saturday to rid itself of terrorists before the United States takes its anti-terror campaign to the troubled Horn of Africa nation,” the AP reports.

Sudanese President Omar el-Bashir said he was appealing to the transitional national government in Somalia to do everything possible ‘to avoid this (U.S.) strike, which will increase the suffering of the Somalis.’

The United States says it is conducting reconnaissance flights over Somalia and intercepting ships to help determine whether the al-Qaida terrorist network, accused in the Sept. 11 attacks in the United States, is attempting to regroup in the country after being routed in Afghanistan. But U.S. officials have declined to say if Somalia is a future target in the war on terrorism.

‘We know that there are no camps as such,’ el-Bashir said of al-Qaida presence in the country. ‘There could be some elements that infiltrated among the civilians. And these are in most cases tribal elements, not the ideological ones, so this is why in the resolution on Somalia, the national elements and other factions are urged to work on eliminating terrorism.’

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