Al-Qaeda in the Maghreb: Update, thanks to Insights Into Today's Middle East:
_____________________________________________________ Trackposted to Outside the Beltway, The Virtuous Republic, Rosemary's Thoughts, third world county, The World According to Carl, Miss Beth's Victory Dance, Stuck On Stupid, The Pink Flamingo, CORSARI D'ITALIA, Right Voices, The Yankee Sailor, and Gone Hollywood, thanks to Linkfest Haven Deluxe.Austrian nationals Wolfgang Ebner, 51 and his companion, Andrea Kloiber, 43 [1] were kidnapped by Al Qaeda in Tunisia on February 22. They are allegedly being held in Mali [2]. The terror group has linked its action to an Israeli offensive in Gaza [3]. In a communication on March 16, the kidnappers extended a Sunday midnight deadline for their demands to be met, the Austrian foreign ministry said. The kidnappers asked for the release of detained Al Qaeda members in Algeria and Tunisia and a 5 million Euro ransom. [4]
Al Jazeera television aired an audio recording by a man who identified himself as Salah Abou-Mohammad, a spokesman for Al Qaeda Organisation in the Islamic Maghreb who said that the two were in good condition but warned Westerners against visiting the north African state, which attracts tourists from many European countries. Western tourists were "searching for pleasures in Tunisia while our folk in Gaza are being slaughtered by the Jews with consent from Western countries whose governments are killing our brothers in every (Muslim) country", he said. [5]The national Libyan news agency has reported that Austrian Chancellor Alfred Gusenbauser has spoken to Muammar Ghadafi regarding the hostages. The Federal Chancellery of the Republic of Austria has not officially confirmed this information but has stated that Austria uses "all contacts". Austrian authorities possibly try to mobilize a Libyan connection which has proved of value 5 years ago regarding the Sahara hostage-crisis when 32 tourists, among them 10 Austrians, were being displaced. At that time the "International Gadhafi Foundation", which is being led by the President´s son Seif al-Islam Gadhafi, played a major role in the release of the hostages.[6]
Austria's chancellor Gusenbauer demanded the immediate and unconditional release of the two kidnapped Austrian tourists. "This is an act of violence against those people and an act of violence against Austria'' Gusenbauer said as he arrived in Brussels, Belgium, for a meeting of European Union leaders. [7] A senior Austrian diplomat is in Mali seeking the pair’s freedom. [8] This kidnapping is the latest string of terrorist actions perpetrated by Al Qaeda in the Maghreb. Al Qaeda has opened terror franchises across North Africa in order to unite local Islamic militant groups under one flag and use the region as a launching pad to attack targets in neighbouring Europe.
The first signs that these groups joined al Qaeda came on the fifth anniversary of the September 11, 2001 attacks in the United States when Ayman al-Zawahiri, al Qaeda’s second in command, proudly announced that his network had merged with Algeria's most violent terror organization—the Salafist Group for Call and Combat (GSPC). [9] In his announcement, Al-Zawahiri explicitly threatened Europe, singling out France for attacks. “Osama Bin Laden has told me to announce to Muslims that the GSPC has joined al-Qaeda,” Al-Zawahiri said. “This should be a source of chagrin, frustration and sadness for the apostates, the treacherous sons of France.” [10]
In January 2007 the GSPC officially changed its name to “al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb” (AQIM). Since then the Maghreb states of Algeria, Morocco and Tunisia have witnessed a sharp increase in attacks against government and civilian targets. The deadliest of them to date occurred last April 11 when 33 people were killed and hundreds more injured in a triple suicide bombing in the Algerian capital of Algiers. The attack, claimed by AQIM, was the worst to hit the country since the end of its decade-long civil war in 2002. [11]
The GSPC was established during the Algerian civil war that erupted after the government canceled elections in 1991, a decision made when it had become apparent that a radical Islamic party would win the vote and install an Iranian-style theocracy. For the next decade, radical Islamists fought the secular government in a bloody war that was characterized by its extreme brutality.
The militants adhered to a radical interpretation of Islam that called for the killing of all “infidels”; thousands of civilians were slaughtered en masse in shootings, bombings and trademark beheadings. The Algerian military was also accused of atrocities, including the “disappearance” of thousands of people. An estimated 150,000 to 200,000 people lost their lives during the conflict. The Algerian government issued an amnesty in 2006, but the GSPC declined the offer and sporadic violence persists. [12]
Since the GSPC/AQIM alliance was formed, the number of attacks has risen sharply and a month hasn't gone by this year without attacks throughout the Maghreb. Although the AQIM and like-minded groups mainly want to install Islamic law in the region, counterterrorism experts warn that their wider goal is to strike European targets.
“Today, the threat posed by this alliance of the GSPC and al Qaeda constitutes a heightened threat to the countries of Northern Africa, which have been destabilized and can be destabilized even more, but also to France, which is considered as a priority target…” said Jean-Louis Bruguiere, France's top anti-terrorism judge, in a recent interview. He added: “The GSPC has become, as it were, a sort of regional branch of al Qaeda, its mission being to federate all the radical, Salafist organizations in North Africa—Moroccan, Libyan and Tunisian—and, at the same time, to provide logistical support to the Iraqi networks.” [13]
Algerian terrorist groups launched bombings in Paris in the 1990s [14] , while the Moroccan Islamic Combat Group (GICM) is believed to have orchestrated the Madrid bombings in 2004 that killed 191 people and injured 2000. The GICM reportedly joined the ranks of al Qaeda in the Maghreb this year.[15]
The fact that al Qaeda has opened a franchise in the Maghreb is especially significant because many North Africans have migrated to Europe. Most of the 340 people arrested on terrorism related charges between October 2005 and December 2006 inside Europe “came from Algeria, Morocco, and Tunisia,” and many of them had ties with the GSPC, according to a recent report by EUROPOL, the EU's criminal intelligence agency.
Moreover, a rising number of militants from the Maghreb are fighting coalition forces in Iraq, says a study conducted by the German Institute for International and Security Affairs, a Berlin-based think tank. North African veterans of the Iraqi insurgency may well use the expertise that they gained on the streets of Baghdad to perpetrate violence elsewhere.
The study predicts such an outcome as follows:
“It is to expect that North African terrorists won't return to their home countries, where security officials very brutally act against militant Islamists. They would probably retreat to where many North Africans live —in Western Europe.... The GSPC has in the past fostered logistical networks in France, Spain, the Benelux countries, and Germany and may, in the course of the internationalization of its strategy, also attack targets in Europe.” [16]___________________________________________________
References
[1] Austrian captives taken to Mali: Algerian Web site, Reuters, March 11 2008
[2] Tunisia hostage deadline extended, BBC, March 17 2008
[3] Qaeda's N.Africa wing says holding Austrian tourists, Reuters, March 11 2008[4] "Lybien stellt Kontakt zu Entführern her," Der Standard Online, March 18,2007
[7] Austrian leader calls for immediate release of hostages held by Al-Qaida,AP
[8] Tunisia hostage deadline extended, BBC, March 17 2008[9] Mather, Ian. “Algerian al-Qaeda poses new threat to north Africa and Europe,” The Scotsman, February 18, 2007.
Khalaf, Roula, and Fidler, Stephen,”Why Algerian extremists ‘re-branded’,” The Financial Times, April 20, 2007
O'Neill, Sean, “Algeria could provide springboard for European terror,” The Times of London, April 11, 2007Tisdall, Simon, “Fears grow of a radical Islamist Maghreb,” The Guardian, February 14, 2007
[10] “Al-Qaeda ‘issues France threat’,” BBC News, September 14, 2006.[11] Govan, Fiona, “Bombs kill 33 as terror returns to Algiers,” The Telegraph, April 13, 2007
[12] Fox, Robert, “Massacre villages tell of terror that stalks Algeria,” The Telegraph, October 23, 1997.
“400 die in Algeria massacre,” BBC News, January 4, 1998.
Tremlett, Giles, “Algerian massacre site ‘erased by police’,” The Guardian, January 26, 2004.
Wallis, William, “Algeria plans amnesty to end 13-year civil war,” The Financial Times, March 31, 2005.
“Family wiped out in Algeria attack,” BBC News, May 27, 2003.
[13] Boyle, Jon, “Al Qaeda in N. Africa poses threat to France,” Reuters, June 5, 2007.[14] “Paris bomb suspect goes on trial,” BBC News, February 27, 2006
[15] Nash, Elizibeth, “‘Mastermind’ of Madrid bombing goes on trial,” The Independent, February 16, 2007
“Morocco arrests Islamist suspected of bombings,” Reuters, March 9, 2007.
[16] Nicola, Stefan, “Analysis: Al Qaeda in the Maghreb,” The Middle East Times, April 13, 2007.
Good snatched article Debbie, but as you know, Al-Qaeda in the Maghreb has been an issue and been followed by people in the CT community for quite some time.
To Aurora and Angel, AQIM has been a front for a while. The "fronts" of the War on Terrorism are many and growing. But also, it should be remembered that the GWOT is not just against al Qaeda, and not just against the Islamic jihad.
Posted by: Stormwarning | March 19, 2008 at 11:05 AM
sheesh another front to worry about..excellent research on this one Deb!:)..I'm getting the error messages again Debbie and have to resign all my info each time I wish to comment.
Posted by: Angel | March 19, 2008 at 09:35 AM
Another terrible dilemma brought about by the 'Religion of Peace'. It sounds like AQ is gaining ground and attracting more and more numbers. Now they're spreading across the Maghreb, how long will it take for them to spread to other countries of the world. Are the days of free and easy tourism in these Muslim predominant countries about to close forever?
Posted by: Aurora | March 19, 2008 at 05:35 AM