US backing Somali warlords - confirmed

We finally have some confirmation from US officials of the US backing Somali warlords in the latest violence there. (For background, look here.)

The United States says it is being "wrongly blamed", although it has refused to confirm or deny its support for the ARPCT.

But US officials and Somali officials and warlords have told AFP that Washington has given money to the ARPCT, which is one of several groups it is working with to curb what it says is a growing threat from radical Islamists in Somalia.