http://news.scotsman.com/international.cfm?id=262982007
Algerian al-Qaeda poses new threat to north Africa and Europe IAN MATHER DIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENT AL-QAEDA is using North Africa to open a new front in the international terror war. An alliance between al-Qaeda and a north African Islamic insurgency group has resulted in the creation of the so-called Al-Qaeda in Islamic North Africa. The new group dramatically raised the stakes last week with a wave of coordinated bombings of police targets in Algeria in which six people were killed and about 30 injured. According to the US-funded Memorial Institute for the Prevention of Terrorism, the group - formerly the Salafist Group of Call and Combat (GSPC) - "is now the most significant terrorist movement in Algeria" and remains focused on "overthrowing the secular Algerian government and establishing an Islamist state in the country." The bombings are a bitter blow to Algeria's moderate pro-West government, which thought it had beaten the Islamic insurgency that killed more than 150,000 people in the 1990s. Only last autumn Algeria's voters backed President Abdelaziz Bouteflika's offer of an amnesty to 1,000 Islamic terrorists hiding in Algeria and neighbouring countries. Meanwhile, analysts say the GSPC is increasingly cooperating with other Islamic militants around north Africa. This follows a call from al-Qaeda's second-in-command, and head in Iraq, Ayman al-Zawahiri, for an extension of jihad to confront the "Crusaders". The group also has links with the Moroccan-born extremists who are among those on trial in Madrid for the March 2004 train bombings. Most attended the Al-Quds mosque in Tangiers to hear the preaching of Mohammed Fizazi, a cleric sentenced to 30 years for inspiring attacks in Casablanca. Emily Hunt, a Washington-based terrorism expert, says: "The weakening of the original al-Qaeda leadership has created an opportunity for local 'franchise' groups to take the initiative in global jihad. The most immediate threat is to Algeria's neighbours in the region." It is estimated between 300 and 500 terrorists belong to al-Qaeda in Islamic North Africa, many of them trained in Afghanistan. Its website and newsletter indicate strong sympathy for the Iraqi jihadists' cause, encouraging young men to travel to Iraq to join the terrorist campaign. According to the US military 20% of suicide bombers in Iraq are now Algerian. It says that al-Qaeda has started running training camps in northern Mali for Islamic militants from other north African countries. The recruits are then sent back to carry out operations in their home countries. According to French anti-terror judge Jean-Louis Bruguiere, the Algerian-based terrorist movement is also a direct threat to Europe: "The GSPC wants to carry out attacks in Europe, especially in France, Italy and Spain, and destabilise North Africa." [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] -------------------------- 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/
