http://www.arabnews.com/?page=4§ion=0&article=91616&d=1&m=2&y=2007
'Al-Qaeda Not a Threat in N. Africa’ Associated Press TUNIS, 1 February 2007 — Al-Qaeda is not a serious threat to North Africa, and the terror network’s affiliate in Algeria will be “totally eradicated,” Algeria’s No. 2 security official said in an interview. Junior Interior Minister Dahou Ould Kablia, speaking at a meeting of Arab interior ministers in Tunis, brushed off word of a new alliance between Al-Qaeda and Algeria’s Salafist Group for Call and Combat. “We’re not giving this any more importance than it deserves,” the minister told The Associated Press in an interview late Tuesday. “Al-Qaeda or no Al-Qaeda, the movement will be totally eradicated,” he said. Ould Kablia is the top Algerian security official under President Abdelaziz Bouteflika, who also holds the title of interior minister. Asked if he thought Al-Qaeda was a threat in North Africa, the minister added: “No, I don’t think so.” The Salafist group, known by its French abbreviation GSPC, announced last week it was officially Al-Qaeda’s North African wing — now called Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb. The GSPC, estimated at several hundred members, is considered the last major insurgent threat in Algeria, which has been trying to emerge from an Islamic insurgency that started 15 years ago. More than 150,000 people have died: Islamists, civilians and military. Algerian neighbors Tunisia and Morocco have both had a string of arrests of suspected Islamic militants with alleged ties to the GSPC in recent months. In early January, normally tranquil Tunisia was rattled by a shootout between police and Islamic militants who police say had GSPC links. At the Tunis meeting, North African delegates called for greater cooperation among their intelligence services on eliminating militant groups. The Libyan interior minister said Libya will soon require entry visas for all citizens from Arab nations in an attempt to curb terrorism and illegal immigration. Salah Rajab, speaking to reporters at the meeting with Arab counterparts, said the measures would mean Arab citizens “without exception” would face visa rules already required of citizens of other nations. He said the move was intended to fight the infiltration of terrorists and illegal immigrants into the North African country, a key transit point for Africans trying to get unauthorized access to Europe. The measure is expected to take effect shortly, Rajab said, without giving details. He added that it was not a response to any specific threats. “Why wait for threats and not foresee them in time?” he told reporters. Asked whether the new requirement would contradict the rules of the Maghreb Arab Union — made up of Libya, Algeria, Morocco, Mauritania and Tunisia — Rajab said it would not. “Every country has the right to organize its affairs in the current circumstances,” he said. “This procedure, which will come into effect shortly to combat clandestine immigration, will apply to all foreigners, including Arabs,” Rajab. +++ -------------------------- Want to discuss this topic? Head on over to our discussion list, [EMAIL PROTECTED] -------------------------- Brooks Isoldi, editor [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.intellnet.org Post message: [email protected] Subscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] *** FAIR USE NOTICE. This message contains copyrighted material whose use has not been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. OSINT, as a part of The Intelligence Network, is making it available without profit to OSINT YahooGroups members who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information in their efforts to advance the understanding of intelligence and law enforcement organizations, their activities, methods, techniques, human rights, civil liberties, social justice and other intelligence related issues, for non-profit research and educational purposes only. We believe that this constitutes a 'fair use' of the copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the U.S. Copyright Law. If you wish to use this copyrighted material for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use,' you must obtain permission from the copyright owner. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/osint/ <*> Your email settings: Individual Email | Traditional <*> To change settings online go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/osint/join (Yahoo! ID required) <*> To change settings via email: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
