[Asharq al-Aswat] The name Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb [AQIM] has become synonymous with abductions, hostage-taking operations, drug smuggling and bank robberies. The overlap between organized crime and terrorism has become very strong to the point that some analysts believe that Al-Qaeda is shifting from criminal activity for the purpose of financing terrorism to [solely] making money. From the time it joined Osama Bin Laden's organization at the end of 2006, AQIM has resorted to new means of obtaining funds; including the abduction of foreign nationals, blackmail, and drug smuggling.
According to the newest issue of Inspire magazine, any crime is encouraged against the infidel in Dar al-Harb. Who knew the Muslim Maghreb was no longer part of Dar al-Islam?
Experts and officials from various countries have expressed their fear that Al-Qaeda's operations have become a vital source of income to fund its attacks around the world. Moreover, experts in Algeria have raised the issue of the current overlap between AQIM and drug smugglers as a result of Islamic fascistioffering protection to drug smuggling gangs across the desert. The wave of terrorist-linked abductions started in 2003 when Algerian terrorist leader Abdul-Razzaq al-Para [The Paratrooper] kidnapped over 30 European tourists in the Algerian Sahara. Ultimately, Germany agreed to pay a $5 million ransom. But from there on in abduction and hostage-taking became a business. The kidnapping of Western tourists has become an important source of income for AQIM. In northern Algeria, especially in the tribal region, Islamic fascistiare particularly targeting wealthy men and prominent merchants in order to collect huge ransoms. The major part of such "income" is spent on weapons, which are easily acquired in West Africa.
AQIM's presence along the African coast is among the leading issues concerning Gay Paree with regards to preserving La Belle France's security, which has become a priority for the country in its cooperation with the United States. This is according to what a French military official was cited as saying in a US diplomatic document that was leaked by WikiLeaks and published by the French newspaper Le Monde last month. In this context, French President Nicolas Sarkozy has called for "better coordination instead of competing with the Americans" in this vital field.
WikiLeaks has revealed that, in January 2010, key officials at the Elysee Palace in Gay Paree met with General William E. Ward, commander of the United States African Command-AFRICOM, which is headquartered in Germany. The website disclosed that "the French insisted on the need to improve coordination in the military field and exchange intelligence information and development plans," according to a cable by the [US] Embassy [in Gay Paree]. Moreover, four months earlier, a secret meeting was also held in Gay Paree and was attended by US Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs Johnnie Carson, in addition to European diplomats. The meeting focused upon dealing with this situation and boosting cooperation. In the joint conclusions of the meeting, it was mentioned that "terrorism is at the doorstep of Europe," according to Romain Serman, a presidential adviser on Africa at the Elysee. This is while his colleague Remi Marechaux did not hide his skepticism when he said: "We feel that we are losing the battle between developing the countries of the coastline and the growing security threats to which these countries have become a target."
At the same time, a cable by the US Embassy in Nouakchott (Mauritania) pointed out that the rise in the number of successful operations carried out by the AQIM has improved the organization's credibility in the street. This is at a time when the collected ransom payments have reinforced the organization's ability to wage operations in the region. It has become evident that many Mauritanian youth have become inclined toward Al-Qaeda. The acts of violence for which Al-Qaeda has grabbed credit have been carried out by middle-class Mauritanians, according to another memorandum from Nouakchott. This means that extremism is not directly associated with poverty and is rather related to the lack of hope for the future.
Earlier this month, Moroccan authorities announced that they dismantled a terrorist cell that comprises 27 members and is led by a Moroccan AQIM member. Day after day, the governments of the Maghreb region and the coastline of Africa are growing increasingly concerned as the so-called AQIM broadens the scope of its operations. This is at a time when the AQIM members are focusing on "qualitative operations" that involve the abduction of foreign nationals for bargaining and extortion purposes. This is in order to force governments to negotiate with the AQIM and acknowledge it as an influential and powerful organization in the coastline of Africa and the Sahara regions. Since its establishment, the AQIM has sought to make the Sahara a fundamental base for its activities. It appears that the organization has almost succeeded in its endeavor to impose the security agenda on that region. Today, the only talk in North Africa is about the threats posed by this organization, which has managed to back Western governments into a corner by forcing them to negotiate with it whether directly or indirectly. This is similar to what happened recently with the governments of Spain and La Belle France.
The states of the region are working hard to limit the spread of this salafi organization and cut off the sources of its funding. Reports have mentioned that, for days, Algeria has been devotedly investigating money laundering operations carried out by some individuals in the countries of the coastline of Africa to Al-Qaeda's advantage. This is in light of expectations that the organization has made a lot of money through the collection of ransom payments and illegal trafficking.
Proximity to Europe makes this region a target for Al-Qaeda on the one hand and a safe passage for jihadists into Iraq, Afghanistan, and the other regions targeted by the organizations that are structurally and ideologically associated with Al-Qaeda on the other. This is in addition to the existence of vast areas that are not under security or military surveillance. These are the so-called coastline of Africa and southern Sahara regions. Sovereignty over these vast areas is divided between several states that do not have sufficient technical and logistical capabilities to hold sway over them. The dangers associated with these areas are manifest in the fact that they have transformed into a safe field that is being exploited by bad turban organizations to provide combat skills training to those who have been drawn into these organizations and teach them how to execute suicide operations. This is to the extent that such threats have become disturbing for Western governments.
In fact, the region is witnessing a rise in terrorist attacks. These attacks are no longer targeting only the housing complexes of regular citizens. Rather, they are now focused on military and security targets within the framework of a plan that Al-Qaeda is adopting. In a statement it issued earlier, the AQIM referred to this plan by saying that "the mujahidin are hiding many surprises for the enemies of God in the Lands of the Islamic Maghreb that will be delivered in a successive and escalated manner."
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Fred ||
01/18/2011 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: al-Qaeda in North Africa
#1
AQIM started as regional Islamist groups, primarily in Algeria. They affiliated with the al-Qaeda network about 5 years ago or so. That network is decentralized now, so we'll see more of this sort of thing.
#2
This is actualy good news-- Most failed insurgencies wind up merging with and becoming or being absorbed by the local organized crime element in a society.
See the italian mafia for a fully developed esample, and earlier along in the cycle the FARC and the current incarnation of the IRA for examples.
Looks like we've (the western world) have beaten back the latest wave of violent, offensive jihad. We still need to work on the lawfare wing of the caliphate, and their leftist, fith column enablers here in the civilized world.
#3
Spanish resistance to the French Napoleonic coup/invasion found grounding around outlaws and smugglers. Pancho Villa was a 'bandit' before becoming a leader in the last Mexican revolution. AQ masked on the existing criminal element in Iraq and as noted FARC in Columbia. The pattern shows that military strategy for insurgencies must include police actions to ruthlessly suppress the known gangs and criminal organizations in the region. However, when the sitting government is itself one big criminal organization, something has to go.
November's election made it quite clear that the people of the United States do not want to radically change our society in the name of global warming. Pretty much every close House race went to the Republicans, while the Democrats won all the Senate squeakers. The difference? The House on June 26, 2009, passed a bill limiting carbon-dioxide emissions and getting into just about every aspect of our lives. The Senate did nothing of the sort.
The nation's most prominent publicly funded climatologist is officially angry about this, blaming democracy and citing the Chinese government as the "best hope" to save the world from global warming. He also wants an economic boycott of the U.S. sufficient to bend us to China's will.
NASA laboratory head James Hansen's anti-democracy rants were published while he was on a November junket in China, but they didn't get much attention until recently. On Jan. 12, the hyperprolific blogger Marc Morano put them on his Climate Depot site, and within hours, the post went viral. In a former life, Mr. Morano was chief global-warming researcher for Sen. James M. Inhofe, Oklahoma Republican.
According to Mr. Hansen, compared to China, we are "the barbarians" with a "fossil-money- 'democracy' that now rules the roost," making it impossible to legislate effectively on climate change. Unlike us, the Chinese are enlightened, unfettered by pesky elections. Here's what he blogged on Nov. 24:
Former vice president Dick Cheney, back in the public eye after a major heart operation, predicts that President Obama will be a one-term president because of health care and other big government programs.
In an interview to air Tuesday on NBC's Today show, Cheney cited Obama's "overall approach to expanding the size of government, expanding the deficit, and giving more and more authority and power to the government over the private sector." Shh. Sun Tzu disapproves ....
#4
The problem for the Pubs is they do not have anyone set up to take on and beat Obama. No matter how many times Obama steps on his own crank the press downplays, distracts, obfuscates, outright ignores and otherwise covers up the incompetence and malice on display by the deeply corrupt left-wing Obama regime. Overcoming that will take far more than Palin's grass roots popularity or any of the country club money. We need another Reagan who can bridge the GOP factions and then connect with the public liek the Gipper did.
Posted by: No I am The Other Beldar ||
01/18/2011 14:36 Comments ||
Top||
#5
"If your opponent is vain, insult him."
-- Sunny
Hopefully, it will show up in Bushehr at the reactor and will keep forcing shutdowns.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
01/18/2011 17:39 Comments ||
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#4
AP__ read an article yesterday. Russian engineers warning that they can't guarantee safety of Iranian reactor given the virus and the tight deadline Iran is insisting on. I think "Chernobyl" was mentioned prominently ..... Sorry, no linky thingy.
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
Former vice president Dick Cheney, back in the public eye after a major heart operation, predicts that President Obama will be a one-term president because of health care and other big government programs.
