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US targets three more countries

JAMES CLARK, NICK FIELDING AND TONY ALLEN-MILLS, WASHINGTON

THE war on terrorism is to be extended to three new countries as soon as the campaign in Afghanistan is over.

Targets linked to Osama Bin Laden in Somalia, Sudan and Yemen will be at the top of the hit list, according to senior sources in London and Washington.

Tony Blair and President George W Bush have agreed that the momentum created by the anti-terror coalition's successes must be maintained with swift action elsewhere.

"We have the wind at our backs and we don't want to lose it," said a senior Washington source.

Preparations are under way in all three countries.

Intelligence officers from both Britain and America have been on the ground to gather information about terrorists and ascertain their links with Bin Laden's Al-Qaeda organisation.

Yemen, where 17 American sailors died in a suicide bomb attack on the USS Cole at Aden last year, is considered the country most likely to feel Washington's wrath. Al-Qaeda supporters, including many Afghan veterans, have established bases in the northern mountains, where they run training camps.

American officials hope to secure the co-operation of the Yemeni president, Ali Abdullah Saleh, who visits Washington this week. In Sudan, where Bin Laden lived until 1996, the Bush administration is expected to pursue followers of Hassan al-Turabi, a former parliamentary speaker now under house arrest. Al-Turabi, whose niece is married to Bin Laden, gave him sanctuary for five years.

Officials believe that extending the campaign to Sudan, Somalia and Yemen will keep Al-Qaeda on the run. A Ministry of Defence spokesman said last night: "We are focused on Afghanistan.

However, this is part of a wider war on terror, wherever that may be, so it should not be a surprise to learn that military planning may be under way in other parts of the world. While we cannot confirm targets, the three countries mentioned have all been linked to terrorist activity."

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Anthony is not psychic. He just pays attention.

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