MR MARLBORO: Not far away from the Algerian gas centre of In Amenas, a war has been declared in Mali. In Amenas is only 30km from the border separating Libya and Algeria — halfway between the Algerian capital Algiers on the country's Mediterranean coast in the north and the Mali frontier to the south. The debilitating heat of the Sahara never posed a problem for the pampered expatriate personnel. The industrial complex has the air of an ideal oasis — functional, spotless and clinically clean, orderly and well turned out. Algeria has never been a paragon of constancy. The militant Islamist groups in Mali are splinter groups inspired by Algeria's own militant Islamists — renegades of the Algerian civil war that claimed more than 250,000 lives in the 1990s. The Malian Islamists pose as rebels with a cause, but in reality they are appendages of an international Salafist cabal. The point is not to disparage powerful Algeria, quite the opposite. In statistical terms Algeria is one of Africa's richest nations. Yet, the expatriate engineers had nothing meaningful to say to their impoverished taciturn ethnic Tuareg neighbours. Conflicting cultural lifestyles and a deep resentment on the part of the Tuareg people, knowing that the expatriates extract the wealth of their land without leaving even a token of their gratitude in financial terms, or a modicum of respect for the “Noble Savages” of the Sahara. In Amenas means “Mountain top” in the local Tamasheq, the language of the Tuareg inhabitants of the region. Resentment had estranged them long ago. In short, In Amenas is the boudoir version of the old French colonial mentality. The Algerian supporting staff are not local, but hail from the northern coastal regions of Algeria. In other words, they are considered by the Tuareg as virtual strangers. Mr Marlboro, leader of the Signed-in-Blood Battalion, an Islamist militia, too was born in 1972 in Ghadaria, eastern Algeria. His nom de guerre is Mokhtar BelMokhtar, or maybe that is his real name? Nobody knows the full truth about this elusive Afghanistan war veteran. What we do know about Mr Marlboro is that he earned his nickname smuggling cigarettes when he was a member of the militant Algerian Armed Salafist Group (GIA) and later a key leader of the splinter organisation, the Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat (GSPC). We also know that he is one-eyed. Mr Marlboro claims to have lost his eye in battle in Afghanistan — Kandahar, Jalalabad or Kabul, we are not altogether sure. He now wears a false eye. All who have met him were impressed by his poise. But BelMokhtar's outer stillness conceals a steely determination to exterminate the infidel, a state of intense mental animosity towards non-Muslims and a virulent disposition for vengeance. BelMokhtar has always opposed what he considers the corrupt, secular Algerian authorities, lackeys of the French imperialists. After decades of wrangling with more moderate Muslims, Mr Marlboro became convinced that armed opposition, jihad in Islamist parlance, is the only solution to the crisis of his compatriots. It is against this melodramatic backdrop that Mr Marlboro decided to strike terror in the hearts of the people he despises. He ostensibly gathered a motley Legion — three Egyptians, Malians, Libyans, Chadians, Mauritanians as well as Algerians. They stormed In Amenas, presumably a heavily fortified industrial complex, with ease and by surprise and took all Algerians and expatriates hostages. In Amenas is a vital economic asset to Algeria run by the Algerian government-owned hydrocarbon and energy giant Sonatrach, together with Britain's BP and Norway's Statoil. How the Western powers and the Algerian government were taken by surprise and how poor security at In Amenas was remains a mystery. The Algerian authorities, supposedly acted unilaterally to free the hostages, but serious questions about the In Amenas incident remain unanswered. Ironically, when unable to detect a silver lining, he was quoted as being somewhat conciliatory. “We are ready to negotiate with the West and with the Algerian government provided they stop bombing Malian Muslims,” Mr Marlboro was quoted as saying. FUNDAMENTALS: Mr Marlboro's ragtag army of desert bandits proved to be a formidable foe of the West. The In Amenas incident demonstrated that the French military intervention in Mali could have disastrous consequences not only to France but to Mali's African neighbours, including Algeria. The manner in which the Algerian authorities handled the In Amenas incident was messy and bloody in the end. Yet, the West permitted Algeria to exercise maximum authority. Algeria is a far stronger state than Mali, virtually a failed state. The Algerian national oil and gas giant Sonatrach announced that the Algerian army was already clearing mines planted by the militant Islamists. The Malian authorities, in sharp comparison, have no hope in hell. Their only chance of salvation is France. As Al-Ahram Weekly went to press, the Algerian authorities had announced that the death toll of the hostages had risen to 80, but that it might rise further as some hostages are unaccounted for. The four-day ordeal for Algeria and the West is a grim reminder that the centrepiece of militant Islamist philosophy has always been to impose Islamic Sharia law by force. So who are the Malian militant Islamist militias aligned to the Algerian Islamists? Chief among the militias are the Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, that includes a huge swathe of territory encompassing Northwest Africa and the Saharan and Sahelian region of West Africa. Members do not distinguish between Africans south of the Sahara and North Africans. The enemy is the heathen infidel. The general rhetoric of Muslim identity is sufficient to set out their case for them, at least in terms of mustering an emotional attachment to the Islamist cause. The irony is that with their military incursions into Mali, they have created a backlash among the local Muslim, mostly Sufi and moderate, against the Salafis. In many Malian villages “liberated” by French forces, Malians have singled out ethnic Arabs and Tuaregs for retribution. The fall of the regime of Muammar Gaddafi in Libya and the subsequent proliferation of arms in the Sahara permitted the leaders of militant Islamist groups in the Sahara and Sahel region the opportunity to embark on personal journeys such as Mr Marlboro's in vehicles of their own choosing, and with themselves at the wheel. The militant Islamist groups are committed to ends without great regard to means. This is a challenge that France and the West will have to contend with. This aspect of the militant Islamist groups has been repeatedly overlooked by the West. The rise of militant Islamist militias has been primarily a traumatic experience for the long-suffering inhabitants of the Sahara and the Sahel. The West contends that these upheavals are more about principles and methods of terrorism than about the common people of the countries in question. The In Amenas incident alerted Western powers that their interests were at stake. Reactions of Western leaders were predictable. “When we have people taken hostage in such large numbers by terrorists with such cold determination and ready to kill those hostages, as the did, Algeria has an approach which to me, as I see it, is the most appropriate since there could be no negotiation,” declared French President François Hollande. The crux of the matter is that Western powers are now more willing to allow their lackeys in the region to do their dirty business for them. The Western powers understand all too well that their preeminent position is unassailable. Terrorism and Islamist militancy is a bogeyman that ensures the submission of the neocolonial states in Africa and the Arab world. With the militant Islamist threat looming large, the devotion to Western supremacy has become stronger and more resilient than any purely political and economic alignment of interests. THE HAGUES AND THE HOLLANDES: Official statements by Western leaders have hardly endeared them to the Muslims of Africa and the Arab world. “Our focus is on getting British nationals who have survived this ordeal back to the United Kingdom,” confessed British Foreign Secretary William Hague. “We cannot accept attacks against our citizens abroad,” pompously pontificated outgoing United States Defense Secretary Leon Panetta. These self-centred declarations give the impression that Western leaders do not give two hoots about the inhabitants of the war-torn regions concerned and that their main goal is to preserve their narrow national interests, an attitude some African leaders feign to appreciate. Still, this is an all out war on terrorism. “We will not leave any pockets of resistance,” vowed French Defence Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian. France has already dispatched 2,000 troops to Mali. Paris is also overseeing the deployment of 3,500 troops from various West African nations under the umbrella of ECOMOG, the military wing of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), a grouping of 16 nations that includes Mali and Nigeria, Africa's most populous state. Militant Islamists in Nigeria have already retaliated for the intervention of Nigeria, a country with the largest number of Muslims in all of Africa, including North African nations. A convoy gliding through the Masallacin Murtala vicinity of the Kano metropolis, northern Nigeria's largest city with the Emir of Kano Sir Alhaji Ado Bayero was attacked. The Emir of Kano survived, but his driver and three bodyguards were killed. Nigeria has pledged to deploy 1,2000 troops in Mali, the largest African contingency, and the attackers of the Emor of Kano's convoy vowed that this was a taste of things to come. “The goal is the total reconquest of Mali,” Le Drian boasted much to the consternation of his African allies. Canada, Germany and Russia promptly promised to support the French offensive by the provision of vital logistical means. REGIONAL REINFORCEMENTS: The leaders of ECOWAS converged on the capital of Ivory Coast in a desperate attempt to rally support for the beleaguered Malian government. Apart from Nigeria, Burkina Faso, Ghana, Guinea, Senegal, Niger, Chad, Benin and Togo have all pledged to send troops to Mali. Moreover, ECOWAS has set aside $500 million for saving Mali from the militant Islamists. There is the danger that the militant Islamists will hit hard at targets such as nightclubs and discotheques in West African cities such as the Senegalese capital Dakar, the Ivorian capital Abidjan as well as the Malian capital Bamako itself — all cities noted for their lively nightlife. Whipping up mob hysteria against certain ethnic groups and associated groups such as Ansar Dine or the Movement for Tawheed and Jihad is a dangerous precedent in Mali and West Africa in general. Unlike Nigeria, the vast majority of Malians are Muslim, estimated to be about 98 per cent of the population. In short, Malian Salafis are trapped. There is no progress to be made by negotiation because the militant Islamists and Salafis cannot concede. In the majority of West African nations, Islam is the predominant religion. Sufi Islam is the prevailing strand of the religion in West Africa. The desecration of Sufi saint's shrines and the destruction of venerated medieval Islamic manuscripts in Mali by the militant Islamists convinced many West African Muslims that the Salafis are alien and iniquitous.
