- Al Qaeda deputy leader Ayman al Zawahiri in a video announcement claims that the Algerian Islamist group GSPC, known for operating in large parts of the Sahel, has joined the terrorist network. The group works to overthrow the government of Algeria and to establish Islamic states in the Sahel. It has been engaged in fighting in Algeria, Mali, Niger and Chad and also operates in Mauritania.
The Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat (GSPC) during the last three years on several occasions has been mentioned as an ally of the Afghanistan-based terrorist network al Qaeda. The video message by Mr Zawahiri however indicates a formal decision may have been taken: "Osama bin Laden has told me to announce to Muslims that the GSPC has joined al Qaeda," he was quotes as saying.
The video, believed to be authentic, was released on the 5th anniversary of al Qaeda's 11 September attacks on the US and was as usually dominated by hate statements considered incompatibles with Islam. Threats were focused on Algeria and its former colonial power France; countries that were warned of terrorist attacks by the GSPC.
The French Interior Ministry today told the press it was taking the threats seriously. Officials however did not consider it a new threat, saying that al Qaeda already three years ago had announced its alliance with the GSPC and that websites used by the Algerian terrorist group generally had singled out France as a primary aim.
In Algeria, observers take the new GSPC membership in al Qaeda seriously, although the Algiers government has not commented on the issue. Commentators in the newspapers 'Liberté' and 'El Khabar' hold that "the marriage" of the two groups long had been desired by GSPC leaders, but interrupted by poor communications and the killing of an al Qaeda envoy to Algeria by state security. GSPC terrorists had supported al Qaeda operations since the early 1990s, including fighting in Afghanistan.
According to 'Liberté', the integration of GSPC into the larger terrorist network could make it more dangerous, if it is able to maintain communications with Afghanistan headquarters. Cooperation with al Qaeda affiliates in Iraq last year had led to the killing of two Algerian diplomats in Baghdad on GSPC's request. Foreign support for GSPC activities in Algeria could increase the extremists' ability to resist attacks from government troops, the analyst holds.
United, the two terrorist organisations were in particular seen as a greater threat to the Sahel and Europe, 'Liberté' holds. GSPC is reported to have active cells operating in France and the northern deserts of Mauritania, Mali, Niger and Chad. All these are areas where al Qaeda wants to extend its operations. In Algeria as well as in the Sahel, the aim is to destabilise national governments and to impose Islamist regimes.
The Algerian terrorists already have demonstrated their presence in the Sahelian region. Its actions in neighbouring countries are mainly based on the smuggling of drugs, arms and cigarettes to finance its operations. The group however also is said to have stood behind the 2003 kidnapping of 32 European tourists in southern Algeria, taking them to Mali.
In March 2004, the same GSPC group, based on the Algerian-Malian border, was reported to have been engaged in heavy combat with Nigerien and Algerian troops in northern Niger. Escaping into northern Chad, the terrorists were met by Chadian troops supported by the US military. Among the more than 40 dead GSPC terrorists, citizens of both North and West African countries are found, indicating a widening recruitment area for the group.
Only last year, 15 Mauritanian soldiers were killed in an attack on their army base, located close to the Algerian border. GSPC has claimed responsibility for the attack, but military sources in the region doubt the terrorist group's capacity to stage such an operation.
This has however not stopped Western African states and the US from taking GSPC threats seriously. Washington considers the Sahara desert as a vast potential training camp for terrorists, mostly being ungoverned. In August last year, the US therefore staged a large military exercise in the region, cooperating with troops from Senegal, Algeria, Mauritania, Mali and Chad. The exercise simulated the chasing of a terrorist group across the Sahara, from Mauritania to Chad.
The GSPC, which was founded as a splitter group of Algeria's former Armed Islamic Group (GIA) in about 1998, has taken responsibility for a large number of terrorist attacks in Algeria, also killing civilians. Last year, founding leaders of GSPC urged members to lay down their arms and take on a peace offer from the Algiers government. Several hundreds have handed over their arms, Algiers claims. The current GSPC leader however refuses to lay down his weapons and is estimated to control a few hundred men.
With the announced merger of the GSPC with al Qaeda, this makes the second African terrorist group claiming to be connected to bin Laden within one week. Also in Sudan, an unheard-off group this week claimed responsibility for the murder of editor Mohamed Taha, saying it was "al Qaeda in Sudan". Further, Morocco, Egypt and Kenya have active al Qaeda cells, according to governments, linked to several terrorist attacks. In Somalia, several Islamic Court leaders - in power in the Mogadishu area - are known to have contacts with al Qaeda.
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