I am told the Americans are in the midst of a major rethink of their policy towards Somalia, as fighting within the last few days threatens to topple the government in Mogadishu, such as it exists.
This comes as the FBI investigates 20 Americans, mostly Somali refugees, who have reportedly joined the Islamist militants who threaten the capital.
Andrea Elliott has the story in Sunday’s New York Times. The US Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano talked to me about the problem last month when she was in London, trying to pick up some tips in dealing with home-grown radical Islam.
(Remember, most of the 9/11 hijackers were not permanent US residents but Saudis studying in the US, so the Americans – who have long criticised us for letting radical Islam get out of hand – are now dealing with it themselves).
It seems one American blew himself up in Somalia last October and the NY Times is reporting that the FBI investigation into links between the Somali community in Minneapolis and the Al-Shabaab militia in Somalia is considered the biggest domestic terrorism investigation since 9/11 itself.
It seems likely that London and Washington will also be pushing for changes to the UN arms embargo on Somalia. The Americans have already funnelled in some $10m in arms and ammunition to Sheikh Sharif, who only formed a government back in February.
Washington is desperate to prop him up. It is believed that some 500 foreign jihadists are in Somalia, some of them junior remnants from fighting in Afghanistan and Pakistan. And it is increasingly clear that the African Union force of some 4,000 Ugandans and Burundians is trying but failing to keep the militants at bay.
More than 200,000 people have reportedly fled Mogadishu in the last month. The government has called upon Ethiopian and Kenyan forces for help but neither country wishes to be sucked in. And the dire humanitarian situation we highlighted in a film last month can only have worsened.