19 September 2001

Top U.S. Legislator Heartened by African Response to Attacks on U.S.

By Jim Fisher-Thompson
Washington File Staff Writer

Washington -- The outpouring of sympathy by African nations following the terrorist attacks in New York and the Washington area, resulting in as many as 5,000 deaths, is no surprise to U.S. House of Representatives Africa Subcommittee Chairman Ed Royce, who has become the champion in Congress of closer U.S.-Africa ties.

Royce told the Washington File September 19, "I have been heartened, but not surprised, by the solidarity displayed by African countries in the aftermath of the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon that resulted in the loss of thousands of lives."

According to the lawmaker: "The Africa Subcommittee has received messages of support and condolences from African embassies, political parties, and civil society. Religious leaders, both Christian and Muslim, from the continent have denounced this heinous attack."

The two hijacked passenger aircraft that struck the World Trade Center's twin towers in Manhattan on September 11, causing their collapse, may have also killed numbers of Africans who worked in the business complex. A Zimbabwean business had offices in the trade center, and authorities report that a number of Zimbabwean citizens are now missing.

In addition, the Ghanaian Embassy said two of its citizens working in the Manhattan complex are missing and presumed to be victims of the assault, which trapped hundreds of office workers in fires started by jet fuel the two hijacked planes carried when they dove into the 415-meter-tall towers. Acting Ghanaian Ambassador Francis Tsegah said, "Almost every family in Ghana has relatives or friends in the U.S.," and "a lot of Ghanaians come here to work."

A number of people jumped to their deaths from the Manhattan skyscrapers rather than being burned alive in what is now termed the largest terrorist attack in the 225-year history of the United States.

At about the time the World Trade Center was attacked, another hijacked aircraft slammed into the Pentagon building, the U.S. military headquarters located across the Potomac River from Washington in Arlington, Virginia, and a fourth hijacked plane on its way to Washington crashed in rural Pennsylvania after what was believed to be a struggle to the death between the hijackers and passengers on the aircraft.

The U.S. government has identified the reclusive Saudi militant Usama bin Laden as the prime suspect behind the attacks and demanded the Taliban government of Afghanistan hand him over for justice. The terrorist chief has lived in Afghanistan since the mid 1990s, when he declared a religious war on the United States. He was indicted by a U.S. court for being the prime organizer of the terrorist attacks on U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania in 1998 that killed more than 220 people, most of them Africans.

U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs Walter Kansteiner told journalists recently that bringing together African nations to fight international terrorism had become one of the main priorities of his office. He said all African ambassadors had been invited to come to the State Department September 14 to discuss measures that could be taken to stave off any other such attacks. He said, "When things get tough you find out who your friends are, and Africa is definitely our friend."

The same day Kansteiner met with the Africans, the House of Representatives debated and passed a "use of force" resolution that will allow President Bush to use the full panoply of U.S. military might to counter terrorist threats worldwide. Royce told the body, "The horrendous attack we have suffered and our nation's response will prove to be a pivotal event in world history.

"Our nation is now embarked on a fight for freedom," he added. "Some nations will stand up and be with us, and we may even by surprised by who our friends are."

"I am confident," Royce told the Washington File, that "most every African country will prove to be a full partner in the global coalition to root out terrorism, which is an enemy of Americans and Africans alike."