Somalia is a safe haven for al Qaeda

"Somalia has now clearly become a haven for the pariah that is Al-Qaeda,"

It's been clear for some time now.

From AFP

LONDON — Al-Qaeda is using Somalia to train, regroup and plan further attacks, the Somali prime minister said Wednesday, warning it was also beginning to threaten regional stability.

"Somalia has now clearly become a haven for the pariah that is Al-Qaeda," Omar Abdirashid Sharmarke said in a speech in London.

"We cannot be certain of the precise size of their presence in our country but Al-Qaeda are here, they are training and planning in our land. Somalia is serving as an ideal place for them to re-group and redeploy."

The Al-Qaeda inspired-Shebab group and allied hardline Islamists control large swathes of southern and central Somalia, and Sharmarke said defeating them was important not only to his country but "to the whole world".