A U.S. defense official says Washington is concerned that the Horn of Africa region - particularly Somalia - could become a haven for al-Qaida terrorists fleeing Afghanistan. 

The official said Friday that the lack of a central government and security forces makes Somalia a potential haven for al-Qaida members. 

The U.S. official said extremist factions within the Islamic group, al-Ittihad, have denounced the Western presence in Somalia and could pose a threat to Western interests there, and in Somali ethnic enclaves in Kenya, Ethiopia, and Djibouti. 

The defense official said extremists in al-Ittihad share a common world view with al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden. 

The official said al-Qaida members could also flee to Sudan, where Osama bin Laden stayed for several years before taking refuge in Afghanistan in 1996. However, the official said Khartoum has voiced opposition to terrorism, after the September 11 terrorist attacks on the United States, and is clearly interested in being removed from the U.S. list as a state sponsor of terrorism. However, the Pentagon says some Egyptian and Palestinian terrorist groups are present within Sudan.

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