France 24
Jan 18, 2012

Somalia is hardly an attractive destination, but a former US soldier has just joined the ranks of foreigners trying to join the al Shabaab Islamist group. Why is Somalia gathering so many of the world’s wannabe jihadists?

As international destinations go, Somalia has been off-the-charts for more than two decades. With no effective central government and a mindboggling array of clans, militias, Islamists and pirates, this Horn of Africa nation has turned into the farthest thing from paradise on earth.

Except if you’re on the “jihadi tourism” trail, scouting for the perfect terrorism training spot.

The term “jihadi tourism” first appeared in news reports in late 2010, when US diplomatic cables, revealed by WikiLeaks, quoted a US diplomat in East Africa worrying about “a certain amount of so-called ‘jihadi tourism’ to southern Somalia”.

In a January 2010 cable on a classified meeting, then UN Special Representative for Somalia Ahmedou Ould-Abdallah warned that Somalia was turning into an “incubator” for terrorists, “including those holding US, United Kingdom and European passports”.

But when it comes to Somalia, it’s easier to overlook the latest threat from a country that has turned into a byword for a failed state than to actually do something about it. In another leaked cable, for instance, senior British officials dismissed a request for peacekeeping troops with a terse, “there is not enough peace to keep in Somalia".

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