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In October 1993 the particularly gruesome deaths of 18 American soldiers, some of whom were dragged through the streets by jeering Somalis, spelt the end of the UN's 'Operation Restore' hope. It also marked the time when the world largely turned it's back on Somali and it's many troubles. September the 11th last year changed all that.

After the defeat of the Al-Qaeda backed Taliban, it became clear that hundreds of it's supporters were fleeing to Somalia. It was even speculated that Osama Bin Laden might have been among them. All of which meant that Somalia could not be ignored anymore in the international fight against terrorism, it was well and truly back on the map.

It's widely suspected that a Somali extremist group with links to Al-Qaeda, Al-Itihaad, may have been responsible for both the bombing of the Israeli-owned hotel in Mombassa and the attempt to shoot down a passenger jet bound for Israel. Many al-Itihaad members are thought to have fought for the Taliban in Afghanistan and have been operating within Somalia for many years.

More than a decade of civil war and anarchy have made it an almost perfect base for terrorists. Although a transitional national government based in Mogadishu was set up two years ago, it holds little sway outside the capital. Feuding war lords rule most of the country. A peace conference currently being held in the Kenyan hill town of Eldoret has led to a truce being signed by these clan leaders but even if this holds, there's no effective national government, police force or army. The lack of infra-structure extends to Education, Health and Social Service Departments.

The Prime Minister of Ethiopia, Meles Zenawi, who has helped Kenyan President Daniel Arap Moi organise the peace conference, says Somalia's chaos has created a vacuum which is being filled by some very worrying groups.

"Sects of Islam are taking over in Somalia. There are no schools, no clinics, no social services and in the vacuum have come these virulent sects financed by lots of money (from the Gulf) indoctrinating the kids of Somalia in their version of Islam and in their ideology of hate and frustration."

Even many of the war lords themselves are worried. Abdulah Yusef , the President of Puntland, a semi-autonomous province in Northern Somalia, claims that more than three hundred of his militia have been killed by Al-Itihaad forces who have been attempting to overthrow his regime and introduce Islamic rule. Mr Yusef claims to have captured several Al-Itihaad fighters, who he says admit to being supporters of Al-Qaeda, and have declared their intention of establishing a state in Somalia based on Sharia law. He too believes that despite defeats on the battle field they are taking over civilian life:

"They dominate the economic sector, they dominate educational services. They melt into the civic society. They are so powerful that no weak government can challenge them."

The Prime Minister of the country's Transitional National Government, Hassan Abshir Farah, admits that his government is indeed weak. He insists that he has no chance of ending Somalis's anarchy without help from an international peace keeping force being brought in to disarm the whole nation:

"We need the help of the international community because the whole country is armed so how can we disarm them. Every war lord has his militia, the attack and kill people, our priority must be disarmament."

The CIA has acknowledged that the latest information it has suggests that Al-Itihaad extremists were behind the bombing in Mombassa and the attack on the airliner. This conclusion does not surprise James Philips, a Middle East terrorism analyst at the Washington based think tank, the Heritage Foundation:

"There's a constant back and forth of Al-Qaeda people along the Somali coast. It's a very long coast line, a smuggler's paradise. My impression is that it's small in numbers but potentially very dangerous because you don't need that many numbers to launch a big terrorist operation."

Following events in Mombassa it's clear that events in Somalia are of big concern to everybody, not just those who live within the country's borders. However, Ethiopia's Prime Minister, Meles Zenawi, believes that we will all have far more to worry about in the coming years due to the indoctrination of young Somalis by a growing band of Islamic extremists:

"It's like the madrassa in Afghanistan and Western Pakistan. Five or ten years down the line we will have thousands of graduates from these schools in Somalia and at that stage it may be too late."