01/12/04 06:49 ET
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U.S. Sends Anti-Terror Team to W. Africa

.c The Associated Press

NOAUKCHOTT, Mauritania (AP) - The United States has received information of
threats against American interests in the West African nations of Mauritania
and Senegal and has dispatched an anti-terror team to the region, a State
Department official said.

The anti-terror team will help the region's governments guard desert borders
against Islamic extremists.

U.S. officials have long worried that little-policed frontiers of West
Africa's Sahara would serve as crossing points for armed Muslim extremist
groups, including an Algeria-based movement linked to al-Qaida and what
American experts say are already in-place al-Qaida cells in the region.

Pamela Bridgewater, a deputy undersecretary of State for Africa, told
reporters in Noaukchott, Mauritania's capital, ``that there are indications
of such threats'' against Americans in Mauritania and in Senegal,
Mauritania's southern neighbor.

Bridgewater declined to elaborate, saying, ``the question is very
sensitive.''

Unlike North and East Africa, no country in West Africa has seen a terror
attack against Western interests.

Bridgewater said the American anti-terror team arrived Saturday in
Mauritania, and would work with the Mauritanian army for about a week. The
U.S. squad aimed to ``reinforce their capabilities in the line of guarding
the borders against terrorist groups,'' she said.

``Other specialized teams are expected in the region in coming months,'' the
diplomat said.

The United States has targeted the governments of Mauritania, Mali, Niger
and Chad for help combating terrorist groups.

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