In a Sept. 11, 2006, video, Ayman al-Zawahiri declared that "Osama bin Laden has told me to announce to the Muslims that the GSPC (the Algerian-based Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat) has joined al-Qaida. This should be a source of chagrin, frustration and sadness for the apostates (of the Algerian regime), the treacherous sons of France."
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There is some question as to whether this pronouncement represents a strategic gain for al-Qaida in North Africa or is indicative of the declining fortunes of the GSPC. Nevertheless, it helped to reinforce concern in some quarters, most notably in Washington but also in European capitals, the U.N. and the African Union, that terrorists might gain a firmer foothold in the more remote, largely ungoverned areas of the Sahel, a region composed of four countries, Mauritania, Mali, Niger and Chad that covers an area roughly the size of the United States.
Islamic fundamentalism has been part of the Sahelian political and social landscape for well nigh 60 years now. Its proselytizers, adherents and fighters have moved easily across the porous borders of this vast, sparsely populated desert region. Jihadi elements are a small but not insignificant presence in the Sahel, plying their trade in fundamentalist ideology and holy war alongside (and often in close collaboration with) smugglers, drug dealers and kidnappers.
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