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WikiLeaks cables: British Muslims travelling to Somalia for 'jihadi tourism'

British Muslims are travelling to Somalia for “jihadi tourism” to train for terrorist attacks in Britain, the secret documents reveal.

Somalia is among the world's most dangerous places
Somalia is among the world's most dangerous places Credit: Photo: REUTERS

The United Nations special envoy to Somalia was so worried about rebels linked to al-Qaeda that he urged the United States to launch targeted strikes against extremists in the region.

But to the frustration of the Americans, Britain was slow to grasp the scale of the threat from Somalia, despite warnings that

the largely lawless country was an “incubator” for terrorism

MI5 now believes jihadists from the al-Shabaab movement in Somalia represent a significant threat to Britain. Jonathan Evans, the director-general of MI5, publicly warned of the threat last year.

Al-Shabaab controls large parts of the lawless south and has been linked to al-Qaeda. Pakistan was previously regarded as the training ground of choice for British terrorists.

In January last year, Ahmedou Ould-Abdallah, the UN Special Representative for Somalia, told US diplomats that the country was becoming “a terrorist incubator”. “We are facing a very serious threat by people with money and organisation,” he said, adding that a “high number” of foreign fighters had joined the armed opposition, including American and British citizens.

“Stating that the threat is critical, Ould-Abdallah urged targeted operations on terrorists in Somalia,” the documents say.

In a dispatch from the US embassy in Nairobi a month earlier, the Americans

detailed British fears over the threat posed by Somalia

Britain saw “a growing likelihood” of attacks from radicalised British Somalis who had travelled to Somalia or Pakistan for “indoctrination and training” and returned to commit acts of terrorism, the cable said. Large numbers of British passport holders lived in the region while many young British Somalis were sent there for “straightening out” by their families.

“There is also believed to be a certain amount of so-called 'jihadi tourism’ to southern Somalia by UK citizens of Somali ethnicity,” the file said.

During 2008, US officials were becoming increasingly concerned at the failure of their British counterparts to grasp the scale of the problem. On Dec 4, Robert Tuttle, the US ambassador in London, told the State Department that the Foreign Office opposed sending peacekeeping troops to Somalia on the grounds that

“there is not enough peace to keep”