What can an African Union convention on combating terror hope to achieve, wonders Gamal Nkrumah The African Union conference on terrorism, convened last weekend in Algiers, has set itself an ambitious agenda. However, some observers were left wondering if the conference was just a talking shop staged as a show in order to appease Western donor nations, in particular the US. The 1998 bombings of US embassies in Nairobi, Kenya, and Dar Al-Salaam, Tanzania, highlighted the possible links between certain militant Islamist groups in Africa and their counterparts in other parts of the Arab and Islamic worlds. In his annual State of the Union address in January, US President George W Bush pledged to "encourage development, education and opportunity in the Islamic world" -- including a huge swathe of Africa, from Senegal in the west to Somalia in the east and from Morocco in the north to Malawi and Mozambique in the south. Policy-makers in Washington are slowly beginning to understand that poverty, social degradation and the resultant desperation are breeding grounds for terrorism. Charitable, religious and non-profit organisations play a key role in alleviating the suffering of the poor. Of the 4,028 registered non- governmental organisations (NGOs) in Nigeria, 523 are Islamist -- 13 per cent of all NGOs. In predominantly Muslim countries like Niger, Chad, Senegal and Mali, the proportion of Islamist NGOs is even higher: 42, 33, 31 and 28 per cent respectively. Even in countries where Muslims constitute a numerical minority like Kenya, Uganda, Malawi and Mozambique there is a surprisingly large number of Islamist NGOs. In Uganda the proportion of Islamist NGOs is 28 per cent of officially registered NGOs even though Muslims constitute less than 20 per cent of the country's population. Social solidarity funds such as zakat and takaful are distributed among Islamist NGOs in Africa, often receiving aid from oil-rich Arab countries. Africa's leaders have spoken out strongly against terrorism. They have expressed there outrage at the devastation of fuel-laden jetliners crashing into the twin towers of the World Trade Center, and dutifully paid their condolences to the 3000 victims of the tragedy. African officials were also joined by representatives of the United Nations, the European Union and Interpol at the four-day Algiers conference. In many African countries the state has failed to consolidate the functions of government that involve the use of force, such as the military and police. Nevertheless, participants urged African governments not to grant safe haven or provide assistance to terrorist groups and come up with a continent-wide plan to combat terrorism. African governments were also told to work more closely with international police forces in order to better fight terrorism and organised crime. The random killing of innocent civilians through terrorist attacks is an utterly despicable crime, delegates agreed. Nevertheless, they were careful to distinguish terrorism from national liberation struggle, as exemplified by the Palestinian cause. Noting that the war on terrorism must have both an immediate and a long-term thrust, participants stressed that the fight against poverty and illiteracy combats the spread of terrorism in Africa. The growing divide between the haves and the have-nots was, thus, identified as a major cause of the spread of terrorism. The events of 11 September 2001 and the ensuing terrorist threat have caused a re- evaluation of development assistance among Western donor nations, most of whom now press for closer collaboration between African nations and the West. Effectively, African countries must now swim with the tide of democracy and political liberalism. The participants also dealt with terrorism not directly attributable to 11 September. A key factor in the spread of terrorism identified by delegates at the Algiers conference is the proliferation of small arms in Africa. The trafficking of small arms is considered to be one of the major sources of instability in the continent, leading to a marked increase in uprisings and insurgencies by secessionist movements and armed opposition forces in recent years. "African states have to overcome handicaps generated by the lack of cooperation between the institutions involved in the fight against terrorism in Africa as well as the lack of means and capabilities to combat terrorism," the Algerian mission to the UN said in a statement released to coincide with the conference. Algeria, considered by some to be an odd venue for an anti-terrorism conference, has been on the front-line in the fight against terrorism for many years. The point was poignantly brought home when, on the eve of the conference, violence broke out in several Algerian cities. The Algerian civil war, which has claimed an estimated 150,000 lives, erupted in January 1992 when the army canceled legislative elections in which militant Islamists were poised to win. In the latest round of violence, 21 Algerian government troops and suspected militant Islamists were killed in Bouira, 120 kms southwest of Algiers. Another three Islamists were killed in Batna, 430 kms southeast of the Algerian capital. Still more were killed in Tizi Ouzou, 110 km east of Algiers. Among the militant Islamist groups, reportedly instigating the violence, are the Salafist Group for Call and Combat (GSPC), which is on a US blacklist of terrorist organisations, and the Armed Islamic Group, better known by its French acronym GIA. However, the "brutality" of the gendarmes was recently highlighted when the British Ambassador to Algeria Graham Hand Stewart was apparently misquoted by an Algerian daily Le Matin -- an incident which led to a minor diplomatic row between the two countries. "I was asked by the paper about the possible sale of arms to Algeria," Ambassador Hand Stewart told Al-Ahram Weekly. Ambassador Stewart, who attended the anti- terror conference as an observer, told the Weekly that, "There was some hesitation in London about the sale of weapons to Algeria on account of the security and human rights situation in the country." Algerian officials were incensed because, while Western nations pressure the Algerian authorities to combat terrorism, they complain about the methods that are used. As soon as African countries clamp down on groups perceived to be terrorists, they immediately come up against Western opposition. Human rights groups say the Algerian security forces are trigger happy and unjustifiably use teargas canisters to break up demonstrations further fanning the fires of discontent. In spite of this, Algerian President Bouteflika is seen as a level-headed mediator who can negotiate with the country's rival political factions. An anti-terrorist "crisis room", created by Bouteflika, has somewhat lessened, but not eradicated, the violence. These are still early days and tensions remain. Bouteflika is saddled with serious challenges -- social, ethnic and economic. There is still a lot of division within Algeria's political establishment and much rivalry within the Algerian militant Islamist movement. Ambassador Stewart said that he felt the anti-terrorist conference was a success, the aim being to sharpen up other African countries in the fight against terrorism. "The thrust was very much getting other African countries to follow the Algerian example: follow up on UN resolutions, submitting reports on suspected terrorist financing and terrorist sympathisers."
