Having, recently, come back to his family, former leader of GSPC (Salafist Group for Preaching and Fighting) said that present organization direction accuses Hassan Hattab, former chief, of taking group’s money after his resignation in 2003. Former official of exterior and interior communication in GSPC, Amer Saidi, alias “Bilal Walbani”, stated that notable’s council had organized a meeting to assess Hattab’s leadership. He asked him to give back the money they took from citizens and from hold-up. However, Hattab left the organizations without letting them know where the treasure was hidden said the source.
Saidi said, in a meeting, that he did not know how much Hattab has got, without knowing if this money had been invested. After leaving GSPC, Hattab got into a great conflict with organization direction. He was accused of dealing with authorities in the framework of Reconciliation. “Direction deviated from right activities”, he responded. He made clear that many organization elements dread dealing with Reconciliation owing to liquidation.
As a Chief, Hattab had been sent to Niger to get human reinforcement for “Sahara Chief”. “We were leading a group called “veiled brigade” including 35 members moving between Mali, Niger and Mauritania’s frontiers. Hattab saw frequently Sahara’s tribes in these regions to buy weapons”, Saidi said. As for arms sources being got by Bel Mokhtar, Saidi said: “armed tribes deal with accomplices in Nigerian and Malian armies. They give us weapons in return for sums of money.” |