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Africa North

Algeria: Al-Qaeda had ŽcontactsŽ with militants in Italy

2009-06-10

[ADN Kronos] Algerian police have said that Al-Qaeda militants in the capital Algiers are in contact with members who live in Italy and Germany. According to the Algerian daily el-Khabar, members of Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb include young people in their 30's who are living abroad. The Algerian daily does not specify the number of members in the group, but it mentions Nasim, also known as Abu Sayyaf, who currently lives in Germany and was recently in Algeria to make contact with AQIM leaders. Police said inquiries revealed a link between the AQIM cell in Algiers and some Algerian citizens recently arrested in Italy. Last week, Italian police issued arrest warrants for five North Africans accused of plotting terror attacks in the northern cities of Milan and Bologna in early 2006. It is not known whether the arrests were linked to the cell in Algiers. The five were alleged to have planned attacks against the subway system in Milan and the San Petronio cathedral in Bologna which dates back to 1390. Police claimed the five were part of an international group which is active in Algeria, Morocco and Syria. The Al-Qaeda Organisation in the Islamic Maghreb evolved from the Salafite Group for Preaching and Combat, initially formed to create an Islamic state in Algeria, but is now believed to have more widespread goals.

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Europe

Spain: Police arrest 17 Al-Qaeda suspects in north

2009-05-21

[ADN Kronos] Spain's police on Wednesday have arrested at least 17 suspects alleged to be members of an Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb cell in the northern city of Bilbao. The arrests were followed by raids in various neighbourhoods throughout the city. The arrested - mostly Moroccan and Algerian nationals - are alleged to have financed Al-Qaeda by falsifying credit cards, as well as through drug trafficking and theft, Spanish media reported. A minor was also arrested in the raids. The anti-terrorism operation was ordered by judge Eloy Velasco of the National Court of Spain, a senior court which hears cases related to terrorism and organised crime. The arrests and raids took place early on Wednesday and continued throughout the morning. The Al-Qaeda Organisation in the Islamic Maghreb evolved from the Salafite Group for Preaching and Combat, initially formed to create an Islamic state in Algeria, but is now believed to have more widespread goals. Spain suffered a major Al-Qaeda-inspired terror attack in the capital Madrid in 2004, when a total of 191 people were killed and 2,000 were injured when 10 rucksack bombs exploded in four crowded commuter trains. Twenty-one people, including a number of North Africans, were sentenced to over 40,000 years in jail for their roles in the attack. It was carried out by a loosely knit group of Al-Qaeda-inspired Muslim militants and occurred three days before the country's general election.

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Africa North

Algeria: Al-Qaeda mufti 'sacked for opposing suicide attacks'

2008-10-09

(AKI) - The leader of Al-Qaeda's North African branch has sacked its Islamic scholar or mufti, Rashid Zerami, for opposing suicide bombings in Algeria, local daily Ennahar reports. Zerami clashed over the issue with the Al-Qaeda Organisation in the Islamic Maghreb's leader, Abdel Malik Droukedel, Ennahar said. The paper cited the testimony of an unnamed Al-Qaeda turncoat who is now in police custody. Besides the use of suicide bombers, Droukedel and Zerami also clashed over Al-Qaeda's recent strategy of kidnapping Algerian businessmen or their relatives to obtain a ransom, especially in the northern coastal Kabylia area. Droukedel has replaced Zerami with Abu Asim, a former leader of the hardline Algerian Salafite Group for Preaching and Combat>Salafite Group for Preaching and Combat (GSPC), which in 2006 joined the Al-Qaeda Organisation in the Islamic Maghreb. Zerami, also known as Abu al-Hasan al-Rashid headed Al-Qaeda Organisation in the Islamic Maghreb's religious committee and was in charge of armed combat.

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Europe

Qaeda in North Africa: Droukedel threatens France and Spain

2008-09-23

(AKI) - A leader of the Al-Qaeda Organisation in the Islamic Maghreb has threatened France and Spain in an audio message broadcast on jihadist Internet forums on Monday. "To those that are involved in the war against Islam and have betrayed the Islamic nation, we say to them: Repent before God punishes you with his hands and with ours," said Abdel Malik Droukedel, who uses the name Abu Musab Abdel Wudud. "This is because judgement day is close and punishment is imminent. And whoever among the treacherous apostates thinks that France is in a position to ensure its safety, we tell them they are wrong, because France will not be in a position to do it, and will be worried for its safety." In the audio message, entitled "Message to our nation in the Islamic Maghreb", Droukedel reminds his listeners about Spain and Morocco's territorial dispute over the enclaves of Ceuta and Melilla. "Dear nation, it is not conceivable for any Muslim that loves Islam to speak of the Maghreb without remembering Ceuta and Melilla, occupied by Spain without remembering the injustice suffered by our nation," said Droukedel. "The complicity between Spain and international organisations such as the Arab League, the Islamic Conference and the United Nations is clear." Melilla and Ceuta are autonomous cities administered by Spain and considered by neighbouring Morocco to be an integral part of its territory and of immense political and economic significance. Morocco claims both locations to be "despoiled" territories, calling them by their Arabic equivalents of Sebta and Melillia. The cities have been under Spanish control for over 400 years. In the message, Droukedel also speaks against new NATO military bases in North Africa and accuses Moroccan King Mohammed VI of having betrayed the prophet Mohammed by having a Danish embassy in his territory. Regarding Tunisia, Droukedel accuses the government of being anti-Islamic and of passing laws against the implementation of Islamic Sharia law. Speaking about Mauritania, he reminds his listeners about Nouakchott's diplomatic relations with Israel, while he claims that Algeria is suffering from political 'interference' by France. "I assure you all that we do not kill innocent people and we will prevent the spilling of Muslim blood," he said. The Al-Qaeda leader says he will continue his fight to drive "France and the US from our country" and asks Algerian citizens to stay away from foreign organisations or government buildings because they are targets for attacks. Droukedel's message was aimed at Muslims in North Africa, and was also translated into French. The Al-Qaeda Organisation in the Islamic Maghreb evolved from the Salafite Group for Preaching and Combat, initially formed to create an Islamic state in Algeria, but now believed to have more widespread goals.

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Africa North

Maghreb countries 'agree joint strategy' against al-Qaeda

2007-07-31

Algiers, 30 July (AKI) - The countries of the Maghreb - Algeria Tunisia, Morocco, Libya and Mauritania - appear to be overcoming the divisions between them that have hampered the development of a region-wide strategy to combat al-Qaeda . Algerian interior minister, Noureddin Zarhaouni, told Algerian state radio that a joint security initiative involving all the countries has been agreed to. The aim of the plan is to fight the newborn "al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb" - a formation which claims to unite groups across North Africa that are loyal to the terror network's agenda - and prevent new terrorist attacks in the region. The organisation claimed responsibility for the 11 April bomb attacks that killed 30 people in Algiers and of 19 other attacks in Algerian territory between April and June. Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb was formed earlier this year from the ashes of the old Salafite Group for Preaching and Combat (GSPC) . The news was given by the interior minister on the sidelines of a weekend visit by the Algerian president Abdelaziz Bouteflika, to the province of Mustaghanim, 400 kilometres west of the capital Algiers. The accord, of which no details have been provided, follows the threats issued via the Internet by the self-proclaimed leader of al-Qaeda in the region Abu Musab Abdel Wudud, of a series of suicide bomb attacks in the region.

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Africa North

Algeria: Al-Qaeda Claims Responsibility For 19 Attacks

2007-06-08

(AKI) - The Al-Qaeda Organisation in the Islamic Maghreb, Algeria's former Salafite Group for Preaching and Combat (GSPC), has claimed responsibility for 19 attacks carried out in the largest North African country from 24 April until 4 June. Among the attacks cited in the statement, which was posted on Islamist websites, was a bomb attack in the city of Constantine that killed a policeman on 16 May, the eve of legislative elections, and attacks against military convoys in the areas of Bourmedes, Tizi Ouzou and al-Bouira in the volatile Kabylia region in the east. The statement ended with a warning for Algerians not to go near areas where western tourists work or travel and government buildings, which they say will be targeted by attacks. The Salafite Group for Preaching and Combat (GSPC), which pledged allegiance to al-Qaeda last September and changed its name in January to the al-Qaeda Organisation in the Islamic Maghreb, is the only militant group to have remained active in the country after it refused to abandon the armed struggle in exchange for an amnesty in August. The group claimed responsibility for triple suicide bombings on 11 April that killed 33 in Algiers - the deadliest in the capital since 2002, when a bomb in a suburban market killed 38 people.

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Europe

Italy: Al-Qaeda-Linked Cell 'was Planning Attacks In Milan'

2007-06-08

(AKI) - Security officials in Milan who arrested Thursday nine Tunisians suspected of links with the Algeria-based Al-Qaeda Organisation in the Islamic Maghreb believe the men were not only providing logistical support and funding for terrorist operations in Algeria and Tunisia but were also planning attacks on the northern Italian city's subway and police stations. Anti-terror prosecutor Elio Ramondini told reporters that the cell - which was recruiting Islamic militants to fight in Afghanistan, Algeria, Tunisia, Chechnya and Bosnia - included militants "who were ready for suicide attacks in Italy and abroad." Sami Ben Khemais Essid, who has just finished serving a six and a half jail sentence in Italy on terror charges, is believed to have initially set up the cell to recruit militants to be trained for suicide attacks abroad and to provide funding to the former Algerian Salafite Group for Preaching and Combat (GSPC), which pledged allegiance to al-Qaeda last year and changed its name to Al-Qaeda Organisation in the Islamic Maghreb in January. The suspected militants were reportedly arrested on a tipoff by Tlili Lazar, a Tunisian extradited from France to Italy last November, who is allegedly cooperating with the police. Among the nine was also 46 year-old Habib Ignaoua who was detained in London on an arrest warrant issued by Milan magistrates. Judge Guido Salvini who issued the arrest warrants said the cell's high revenues mostly came from drug dealing and counterfeiting money, also through the help of Milan's controverial viale Jenner mosque. The mosque has been classified as a financier of terrorist causes by the US Treasury Department, which has accused it of supporting "the movement of weapons, men and money around the world." In the arrest order, Salvini wrote that "it has emerged once again with great clarity the role of the mosque in viale Jenner as a recruitment place for holy war and thus not only as a place of worship but also as a logical and effective point of reference for jihadi networks."

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Europe

Italy: Alleged al-Qaeda cell cuffed in Milan

2007-06-07

Milan, 7 June (AKI) - Police in Milan arrested Thursday at least nine suspected militants who are accused of having provided logistical assistance and funding to an Algerian terror group which pledged allegiance to al-Qaeda last year, security officials said. Investigators believe the suspects had set up a cell in Milan of the Al-Qaeda Organisation of the Islamic Maghreb, the former Salafite Group for Preaching and Combat (GSPC), which has claimed responsibility for a wave of attacks in North Africa's largest country including suicide bombings that killed 33 in Algiers on 11 April. The cell is also accused of providing logistical support to militants operating in Tunisia and among the arrest warrants issued Thursday is one against a Tunisian citizen, Essid Sami Ben Khemais, who had just finished serving a six-and-a-half year jail term on terror charges. Back to the future for you, bub. The militants were reportedly arrested following the inside information provided by Tlili Lazar, a Tunisian extradited from France to Italy last November, who is allegedly cooperating with the police.

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Africa North

Algeria: Army Hunts Down Presumed Al-Qaeda Militants

2007-05-11

(AKI) - In a major anti-terror police operation, the Algerian army has surrounded an area on the outskirts of Tizi Ouzou, in Kabylia, 100 km from Algiers to hunt down al-Qaeda militants allegedly hiding in the area, the local al-Watan paper reported Thursday. The operation reportedly kicked off Wednesday morning and is being carried out with ground troops and helicopters. Security around public buildings was also boosted over fears that would-be suicide bombers are preparing to strike. Local terror experts fear militants are preparing to strike in Tizi Ouzou in retaliation for the death of Samir Saioud, a well known leader of the now defunct Salafite Group for Preaching and Combat (GSPC) which has changed its name to Al-Qaeda Organisation in the Islamic Maghreb since pledging allegiance to the international terror network last year. Saioud was killed in clashes with the army on 27 April. The organisation claimed responsibility for the Algiers 11 April bombings, which killed 33 people and were the first in the capital's centre in over ten years. They are believed to be the country's first suicide attacks. Algeria was wracked by a brutal civil war in the 1990s in which an estimated 200,000 people died. The GSPC, which pledged allegiance to al-Qaeda last September and changed its name in January, is the only militant group to have remained active in the country after it refused to abandon the armed struggle in exchange for an amnesty in August.

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Africa North

Head Of Al-Qaeda Linked Group Threatens Tourists In Maghreb

2007-05-10

Algiers, 10 May (AKI) - Western workers in North Africa and tourists are going to be the prime targets of suicide attacks, Abu Musab Abdel Wudud, the leader of the Al-Qaeda Organisation in the Islamic Maghreb said in a video released on Islamist websites Thursday - the first by the Algerian terrorist since the new group was formed in January from the Salafite Group for Preaching and Combat (GSPC). "We ask Muslims to avoid sites where there are foreigners, diplomats, businessmen or tourists," he says in the 19-minute-long video. Announcing the intensification of suicide bomb attacks, Abdel Wudud outlines his group's strategy to strike in particular touristic venues in North Africa. "Starting from now we have decided to increase suicide operations as a strategic choice in the fight between us and our enemy and we have therefore ordered all the leaders of our brigades to start recruiting martyrs," he also says. Wudud won't be 'ploding himself personally, you understand, he'll be training minions to do that. He's too important to put himself on the line. In the video, the terror leader gives Muslims indications on how to avoid terror attacks in a possible response to recent criticism from former GSPC leaders who have criticized the strategy of the new organization which targets civilian as well as military objectives. Violent attacks have been increasing in Algeria since the main Islamist rebel group, GSPC, changed its name to the al-Qaeda Organisation in the Islamic Maghreb in January, after pledging allegiance to the international terror network last September. The Algiers 11 April bombings, the first in the capital's centre in over ten years, are believed to be the country's first suicide attacks and were claimed by the new terror group. Abdel Wudud's message is believed to have been filmed after the attack somewhere in the Algerian mountains, judging by the background. In it, the terror leader also accuses the Arab League and other regional organizations of being allied with the West against Arabs and Muslims and pays his respects to Osama bin Laden, his second in command Ayman al-Zawahiri, as well as terror leaders and militants in Afghanistan, Iraq, Chechnya and Somalia.

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Africa North

Algeria: Mokhtar Belmokhtar Ready To Surrender, Report

2007-04-27

(AKI) - The leader of the Organisation of al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, Mokhtar Belmokhtar, who is in charge of the area of Algerian Sahara is ready to surrender, according to a report in Algerian daily al-Shuruq published Thursday. The paper, which quoted unnamed informed sources, said authorities are negotiating directly with the family of Mokhtar considered the Emir of the so-called Area Number Five, southern Algeria. "I seen wot happened to Samir Saioud. I surrender!" Belmokhtar, whose nom de guerre is Abu al-Abbas or Louar, was reportedly close to Hassan Hattab, the former leader of the now defunct Salafite Group for Preaching and Combat (GSPC), which changed its name to Organisation of al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb in January after pledging allegiance to the international terrorist network of Osama bin Laden. Hattab has surrendered under a national reconciliation plan offered by Algerian authorities to end a brutal civil war in the 1990s in which an estimated 200,000 people have died. Belmokhtar is allegedly in northern Mali, living with an Arab tribe, the al-Berrasha, also involved in the mediations which are taking place in the area of Ain Khalil, 35 kilometres from Mali's border with Algeria. The terror suspect is reportedly demanding a passport and the cancellation of all charges against him, including a sentence to death, in exchange for his surrender. The 11 April attacks in Algiers in which 30 people died allegedly led Belmokhtar to distance himself from al-Qaeda.

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Africa North

Al-Qaeda Leader In Sahara Ready To Surrender, Report

2007-04-26

Algiers, 26 April (AKI) - The leader of the Organisation of al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, Mokhtar Belmokhtar, who is in charge of the area of Algerian Sahara is ready to surrender, according to a report in Algerian daily al-Shuruq published Thursday. The paper, which quoted unnamed informed sources, said authorities are negotiating directly with the family of Mokhtar considered the Emir of the so-called Area Number Five, southern Algeria. Belmokhtar, whose nom de guerre is Abu al-Abbas or Louar, was reportedly close to Hassan Hattab, the former leader of the now defunct Salafite Group for Preaching and Combat (GSPC), which changed its name to Organisation of al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb in January after pledging allegiance to the international terrorist network of Osama bin Laden. Hattab has surrendered under a national reconciliation plan offered by Algerian authorities to end a brutal civil war in the 1990s in which an estimated 200,000 people have died. Belmokhtar is allegedly in northern Mali, living with an Arab tribe, the al-Berrasha, also involved in the mediations which are taking place in the area of Ain Khalil, 35 kilometres from Mali's border with Algeria. The terror suspect is reportedly demanding a passport and the cancellation of all charges against him, including a sentence to death, in exchange for his surrender. Hummmm, no The 11 April attacks in Algiers in which 30 people died allegedly led Belmokhtar to distance himself from al-Qaeda.

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