U.S.-Financed Militia Operates In Somalia

WASHINGTON [MENL] -- The United States was said to have helped sponsor the
establishment of a militia in Somalia.
Diplomatic sources said the militia, designed to fight the Al Qaida
insurgency, was financed by an Arab League state and trained by the United
States, an assertion denied by Washington. They said a former CIA officer
has been responsible for recruitment and training of more than 1,000 cadets
in the northern Somali region of Puntland.