| Libyan forces have discovered a terrorist camp with ties to al-Qaeda in the country’s southern desert, a French newspaper reported Sunday. The report did not say whether the camp was active or abandoned when it was found on June 24. The newspaper, Le Journal du Dimanche, quoted European anti-terrorism officials as saying that the camp, thought to be used by the Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat, was near the border with Chad, not far from the region where Chadian rebel forces are holding one of the terrorist group’s most senior members, Amari Saifi, known as Al Para. The rebel group has been negotiating for weeks about handing Saifi over to Algeria, where he is wanted in connection with terrorist strikes. Last month, Algerian forces waited in the desert of Niger in hopes of a transfer but withdrew when negotiations with the Chadian rebels bogged down and the Algerian forces’ supplies ran short. Under the latest plan, Libya would play a role. |