Saudi Ministry of Education to showcase innovations at 2025 Geneva International Exhibition    7,523 violators of residency, labor, and border security laws deported in a week    Video contradicts Israeli army account of deadly March 23 strike on Gaza paramedics    Saudi Arabia spends over $241 million to implement de-mining projects in 3 countries    Italy's Meloni government approves controversial security decree expanding police protections and penalties    Egypt submits new Gaza ceasefire and prisoner exchange proposal: Report    'Everything is possible' — Ronaldo focused on titles, not 1,000-goal milestone after Riyadh Derby win    Saudi, US military leaders discuss enhanced defense cooperation in Riyadh    King Salman Global Academy for Arabic Language launches program with Indiana University    Ronaldo brace powers Al Nassr past Al Hilal in Riyadh derby thriller    Ed Sheeran weaves Persian music into new song, Azizam    Al-Jadaan: Crown Prince's directives confirm government's ability to bring back balance to real estate market    Veteran Bollywood actor Manoj Kumar dies at 87    Foreign investors are allowed to engage in real estate business outside Makkah and Madinah Commercial speculation should not be the purpose of real estate transaction    Aubameyang fires Al Qadsiah into King's Cup final with stoppage-time winner over Al Raed    Musk's X is suing India, as Tesla and Starlink plan entry    Tesla sales plunge after backlash against Elon Musk    Danilo Pereira fires Al Ittihad into King's Cup final with dramatic stoppage-time double    Screen time in bed linked to insomnia, study finds    Mexico bans junk food in schools to fight childhood obesity epidemic    Sweet sales surge ahead of Eid as Saudi chocolate imports top 123 million kg in 2024    Bollywood actress vindicated over boyfriend's death after media hounding    Grand Mufti rules against posting prayers and preaching in mosques on social media    King Salman prays for peace and stability for Palestinians in Ramadan message King reaffirms Saudi Arabia's commitment to serving the Two Holy Mosques and pilgrims    Exotic Taif Roses Simulation Performed at Taif Rose Festival    Asian shares mixed Tuesday    Weather Forecast for Tuesday    Saudi Tourism Authority Participates in Arabian Travel Market Exhibition in Dubai    Minister of Industry Announces 50 Investment Opportunities Worth over SAR 96 Billion in Machinery, Equipment Sector    HRH Crown Prince Offers Condolences to Crown Prince of Kuwait on Death of Sheikh Fawaz Salman Abdullah Al-Ali Al-Malek Al-Sabah    HRH Crown Prince Congratulates Santiago Peña on Winning Presidential Election in Paraguay    SDAIA Launches 1st Phase of 'Elevate Program' to Train 1,000 Women on Data, AI    41 Saudi Citizens and 171 Others from Brotherly and Friendly Countries Arrive in Saudi Arabia from Sudan    Saudi Arabia Hosts 1st Meeting of Arab Authorities Controlling Medicines    General Directorate of Narcotics Control Foils Attempt to Smuggle over 5 Million Amphetamine Pills    NAVI Javelins Crowned as Champions of Women's Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (CS:GO) Competitions    Saudi Karate Team Wins Four Medals in World Youth League Championship    Third Edition of FIFA Forward Program Kicks off in Riyadh    Evacuated from Sudan, 187 Nationals from Several Countries Arrive in Jeddah    SPA Documents Thajjud Prayer at Prophet's Mosque in Madinah    SFDA Recommends to Test Blood Sugar at Home Two or Three Hours after Meals    SFDA Offers Various Recommendations for Safe Food Frying    SFDA Provides Five Tips for Using Home Blood Pressure Monitor    SFDA: Instant Soup Contains Large Amounts of Salt    Mawani: New shipping service to connect Jubail Commercial Port to 11 global ports    Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques Delivers Speech to Pilgrims, Citizens, Residents and Muslims around the World    Sheikh Al-Issa in Arafah's Sermon: Allaah Blessed You by Making It Easy for You to Carry out This Obligation. Thus, Ensure Following the Guidance of Your Prophet    Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques addresses citizens and all Muslims on the occasion of the Holy month of Ramadan    







Thank you for reporting!
This image will be automatically disabled when it gets reported by several people.



Al-Qaeda's influence grows in Sahara
Published in The Saudi Gazette on 12 - 09 - 2011


Reuters
The bombing of a UN office in Nigeria has deepened fears that Al-Qaeda's influence on militant groups in sub-Saharan Africa is growing, although the extent of its involvement remains murky.
Experts say increasing numbers of Nigerians are training with fighters linked to Al-Qaeda in the desert, potentially adding black African recruits to ranks still mostly dominated by Arab faces, and broadening Al-Qaeda's regional influence.
Sharing men and ideas is not new —extremists from North Africa flooded to Iraq to take part in the insurgency there, with many having since returned back home.
But evidence is emerging that Al-Qaeda may be broadening its reach south, possibly by sharing training, tactics and weapons, with other militant groups, after failing to strike in Europe and facing heavy resistance in Algeria. The United States, United Nations and the European Union have also expressed concern that Al-Qaeda fighters in the Sahara may be acquiring weapons looted from former Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi's stocks.
The Nigerian sect Boko Haram, which claimed the Aug. 26 Abuja bombing, and Al-Qaeda's North African wing AQIM which emerged from Algerian militant groups and now roams across much of the Sahara, appear awkward bedfellows due to traditional tensions between black and Arab Africans.
“(But) the links between Boko Haram and AQIM are there and probably getting stronger,” said a diplomat who follows security issues closely but asked not to be named.
“We are not clear on the degree of cooperation. But if you are training people you are going to be talking about strategy, so there is a degree of coordination,” the diplomat added.
Nigerian authorities said last week they suspected a member of Boko Haram “with Al-Qaeda links” who returned recently from Somalia to have been involved in the bombing that killed 23.
The bombing was a clear escalation in targets and methods for a group that rejects Western education but previously targeted security forces in the poor, marginalized Muslim north. It also mirrored Al-Qaeda's bombing of UN headquarters in Iraq in 2003 and another in Algeria in 2007.
Kwesi Aning from the Kofi Annan International Peacekeeping and Training Center said that the apparent convergence of at least some of the groups' interests was a significant concern. “It changes the equation totally,” he said.
Any potential links have not come out of the blue. Al-Qaeda offered Boko Haram help last year to fight Christians. Citing the lack of open-source proof on collaboration and ethnic differences between the groups, most analysts have tended to remain cautious over any kind of alliance. “Although AQIM has expanded into sub-Saharan Africa, there remains a level of distrust between black Africans and the group's Arab leaders,” the US-based Center for Strategic and International Studies said in a report this month.
Peter Sharwood-Smith, Nigeria country manager at risk consultants Drum Cussac, stressed Boko Haram still appeared Nigeria-focused but perhaps was open to collaboration.
Aning said that while details and numbers remained sketchy, links between the groups had been growing for several years.
According to Sahara-researcher Jeremy Keenan, a “couple of dozen” Nigerians have trained with AQIM in the Sahara.
Citing African intelligence sources, CSIS went further, saying there was evidence that some members of Boko Haram have trained with AQIM in Niger.
Weeks after the leaders of Niger and Nigeria met on security issues, Nigerian authorities said a Niger citizen had been arrested when a bomb-making factory was found near Abuja.
Clearly conscious of its Arab-dominated image, AQIM has broadcast videos seeking to show that it had succeeded in luring recruits from south of the Sahara, with one propaganda film last year showing fighters preaching in a number of languages, including Fulani, Haussa and Portuguese.
Al Qaeda's Sahara wing has raised its profile in the Sahel region in recent years after getting pushed south by Algeria's military into the vast and lawless desert regions of Mali, Niger and Mauritania.
While kidnappings and a slice of the trans-Saharan smuggling routes, now also ferrying cocaine, have swelled AQIM's coffers, the group has struggled to launch a spectacular attack in the zone. Vows of attacks in Europe have also failed to materialize.
Improved collaboration between the governments of Mali and Mauritania has led to attacks on AQIM training camps while, after the spate of kidnappings, potential targets are now few and far between. __


Clic here to read the story from its source.