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TERROR WARS
Al-Qaida seeks 'new Somalia' in N. Africa
by Staff Writers
Algiers, Algeria (UPI) Dec 13, 2011

disclaimer: image is for illustration purposes only

Security analysts warn that al-Qaida's North African branch seeks to turn the region into "a new Somalia" on the edge of southern Europe.

Al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb, the Arabic name for northern Africa, confirmed it has kidnapped five Westerners and killed a sixth in recent days in Mali, where there have long been suspicions the government cooperates with the jihadists.

Jerome Spinoza, head of the French Defense Ministry's Africa bureau, said Thursday that Western policymakers ignored at their peril the security challenges stemming from AQIM's expanding operations across the sub-Saharan Sahel region, which stretches from the Atlantic to the Red Sea.

"Instability is on the rise," he said during a seminar at the Royal Institute for International Affairs, a London think tank better known as Chatham House.

"Without a meaningful policy, the area could constitute a lasting safe haven for jihadists."

Robert Fowler, a Canadian diplomat and former U.N. special envoy to Niger who was held hostage by AQIM for four months in 2008-09, said his captors were highly disciplined and ideologically motivated.

"They want to turn the Sahel into a new Somalia," he said. "These guys have no needs. They're dressed in rags. They have a bag of rice and a belt of ammunition and that's it.

"I was held in 23 different locations in about 70 days. They're organized. They can break camp in under 4 minutes.

"This was the most focused group of young men I've ever encountered in my life. They're totally committed to jihad."

Fowler warned that the large amounts of advanced weapons plundered from the Libyan regime's armories before it was toppled in a civil war were spreading across the region and posing a threat to southern Europe.

Echoing similar warnings from government leaders and security chiefs across the region, he said that the AQIM, which is centered in Algeria, had acquired large quantities of these weapons.

"They're now equipped with enormous amounts of Libyan weapons and I mean such sophisticated weapons as SA-24 (shoulder-fired surface-to-air) missiles, heavy mortars, heavy artillery and thousands of anti-tank mines," he said.

The Sahel runs for more than 1,000 miles and embraces vast ungoverned spaces in southern Mauritania, Mali, Burkina Faso, southern Algeria, Niger, northern Nigeria, Chad, South Sudan, northern Ethiopia and Eritrea.

U.S. Army Gen. Carter Ham, head of the U.S. Africa Command, which is conducting counter-terrorism training in many of the Sahel countries, says he believes that AQIM may have established links to Boko Haram, an extremist Islamic group in northern Nigeria responsible for recent bombings and killings in the oil-rich West African state.

That's the farthest south that AQIM's tentacles have been reported. And if the links are proven, it would mark a dangerous southward expansion by the jihadists.

There are also reports Boko Haram fighters underwent bomb-making and terrorism training with Al-Shabaab, an Islamist group linked to al-Qaida that operates in Somalia far to the east.

The Sahel is highly vulnerable to insurgent threats because of the weak and ineffective governments in the impoverished region and jihadist alliances with rebellious tribes of nomadic Tuareg.

Many of them fought as mercenaries for Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi before he was killed by rebel forces Oct. 20.

The jihadists' have also developed close links with cocaine smugglers across the semi-arid region, moving narcotics shipped from Latin America to West African coastal states like Guinea-Bissau for transit to Europe.

Spinoza stressed that Western European governments and the United States need to coordinate efforts to counter the jihadist threat in the Sahel and to increase cooperation with regional authorities to undercut AQIM's ability to exploit the weaknesses of regional states.

One reason AQIM is able to fend off counterinsurgency efforts by Algeria and other regional states is that these are torn by long-running political rivalries, such as the dispute between Algeria and Morocco over the mineral-rich Western Sahara.

Algeria, the region's military heavyweight which defeated an Islamist insurgency that raged throughout the 1990s, established a counter-terrorism command center at its Tamanrasset air base deep in the Sahara in 2010 with Mali, Mauritania and Niger.

But Algiers refuses to cooperate with Morocco, a longtime U.S. ally which says it's broken dozens of Islamist cells. Now Mali and Niger complain Algeria is dragging its feet in combating the jihadists.

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US defence chief in Djibouti for counter-terrorism talks
Djibouti (AFP) Dec 13, 2011 - US Defence Secretary Leon Panetta held talks Tuesday with Djibouti President Ismael Omar Guelleh on tackling terrorism during a visit to the Red Sea state, home to the only US army base in Africa.

"Djibouti is a central location for continuing the efforts against terrorism," Panetta said in a speech to around 500 US soldiers at the Camp Lemonier military base.

"Al-Qaeda started this war. We have made the commitment that we are going to track these guys wherever they go and make sure that they have no place to hide ... whether it is in Yemen, whether it is in Somalia, or anyplace else."

Djibouti neighbours war-torn Somalia where Al-Qaeda-linked Shebab rebels control large parts of the country and are fighting to overthrow a Western-backed government.

Yemen, which lies across the Red Sea from Djibouti, is home to Al-Qaeda in the Arabian peninsula (AQAP).

American drones are launched from Djibouti against Al-Qaeda operatives in the region, according to security site Globalsecurity.org.

Earlier, Panetta said counter-terrorism efforts had moved to Somalia and Yemen after "the significant efforts that have been made against Al-Qaeda" in northwestern Pakistan's semi-autonomous tribal region.

Now the challenges had "moved to key nodes, like Yemen and Somalia, and the efforts to go after them require important partnerships in that part of the world and Djibouti helps provide that partnership for operations that continue, not only against Al-Qaeda but Al Shebab as well."

"Without getting into operational details, it's pretty clear that since (US-Yemeni cleric and terror suspect Anwar al-)Awlaki was taken down, that has impacted on AQAP and their capability but just like taking Ben Laden in Pakistan, the fact is AQAP, Al Qaeda still remain dangerous," he added.

Djibouti is strategically located where the Red Sea joins the Gulf of Aden, a key international shipping route that has been plagued by Somali pirates.

The small Horn of Africa state also hosts the largest overseas French military base.

A senior US official speaking on condition of anonymity said Panetta was also to discuss Djibouti's troop deployment to the African Union force protecting the Somali government in the war-wracked capital Mogadishu.

"The situation there is quite dynamic," he said.

A 9,700-strong African Union force comprising Burundian and Ugandan troops has so far failed to stamp out the Shebab, which has been fighting to topple the Somali government for five years.



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TERROR WARS
US defence chief in Djibouti for counter-terrorism talks
Djibouti (AFP) Dec 13, 2011
US Defence Secretary Leon Panetta arrived in Djibouti on Tuesday for an hours-long visit during which he was to meet with President Ismael Omar Guelleh for talks on counter-terrorism measures. "We'll be looking at what has developped into a very important partnership in dealing with counter-terrorism, with counter-piracy and with dealing with outreach into Africa," Panetta said shortly befor ... read more


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