Largely off the screen of the Western press, countries of the Maghreb have been fighting a bitter war against the spread of Al-Qaeda extremism, writes Attia Essawi Since 2006, Al-Qaeda has been trying to recruit every armed Islamic group in Morocco and the coastal regions of Africa. Al-Qaeda succeeded in 2007 in recruiting the Algerian Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat (ASGPC) and it was renamed Al-Qaeda in the land of the Islamic Maghreb. This gave Al-Qaeda a strong boost after losing its bases in Afghanistan and Iraq. According to Western and African security reports in March 2009, Al-Qaeda has been trying to establish a branch on the coast of the Sahara. It has already attracted members from rebel groups in Niger, Mali, Chad and Mauritania. The effect of Al-Qaeda's recruitment is clear on the borders between Algeria, Mali and Niger where European tourists have been kidnapped in 2003, 2008 and 2009. Al-Qaeda is not yet satisfied with the gains it has made in North Africa and is trying to extend its activities into Europe, especially within France where it can exploit the presence of millions of Algerian immigrants. Ayman Al-Zawahiri, second in command of Al-Qaeda, threatened revenge on European nations because of their support for Israel, after Israel's shocking crimes against Palestinians. After this threat, the director of the CIA warned of growing danger from Al-Qaeda in North Africa and the possibility of recruiting from Europe where there are many Moroccan immigrants. He said that Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb is the most active right now of all of the branches of Al-Qaeda. This particular branch is very organised and widespread in North Africa and along the coast of West Africa and Europe. Algeria remains the base for most of Al-Qaeda's terrorist operations, spawned from the ASGPC that waged a fierce war on the Algerian regime in the beginning of the 1990s. The ASGPC demanded an Islamic form of government from the results from the National Assembly election, in which the Islamists had won a majority in 1991. Some 200,000 Algerians have been victim to this conflict so far. In January 2009, Al-Qaeda attacked an Algerian police headquarters 270 kilometres east of Algeria's capital and killed 24. In August 2008, Al-Qaeda led four attacks on two Algerian cities that resulted in 70 killed. Before this, in December 2007, the country's Constitutional Council and the offices of the UN were bombed, leaving 41 dead and dozens wounded. In April of the same year, Al-Qaeda targeted government headquarters. In a similar incident, Al-Qaeda drove a car full of explosives into a school east of Algiers in August 2008. Some 30 people were killed in this bombing, the second incident of this kind in three days. The Algerian government tried more than once to put an end to this tragedy by peaceful means after all armed responses failed. However, the majority of Al-Qaeda members ignored the effort. So in 2005 a reconciliation charter was adopted through a national referendum in which the large majority -- 97 per cent -- approved amnesty for armed members of Al-Qaeda who surrendered their weapons to the government. But the conditions for surrender were too broad. Another problem of the charter was that the government belatedly issued legislation to organise the surrender of weapons. The government also refused members of the extremist Islamic Front to return from exile. The Algerian government gave out conflicting messages, promising to grant amnesty if the extremists surrendered their weapons. At the same time the government said it would continue to fight terrorist groups. For this reason, many did not respond to this move and the terrorist operations continued because they were not convinced that doing otherwise was in their interests. The government promised to grant rights to those who surrendered and to reincorporate them into society. Since Islamic groups did not respond to the government's calls, the 'years of horror' continued -- nor will they end soon. These terrorist operations continue to constitute an open wound in Algeria's body politic, costing until now more than $30 billion. As for Morocco, it has been burnt, like its neighbours, by the spark of terrorism. In 1994, a hotel was bombed in Marrakesh. After this incident a visa was required to enter Algeria, and relations were cut between the two countries. Then armed men killed dozens of people from the White House in 2003 in a suicide bombing on 11 March, and on 10 and 14 April 46 people were killed in a similar bombing. In November 2005, Moroccan security forces broke up a terrorist ring operating in a number of cities and arrested many individuals. In June 2007, the government arrested an individual carrying explosives for use in a terrorist operation. The court sentenced 22 of those charged with being related to Al-Qaeda, and for recruiting volunteers to fight in Iraq and to work in Islamic extremist groups related to Al-Qaeda. Western security officials visited Morocco more than once and warned of attacks after Al-Zawahiri called for toppling so-called Islamic governments and attacking the interests of the West. They planned to attack tourists in order to decrease the tourist industry so that by 2010 there would not be even one tourist in Morocco. Suicide bombing is not -- so far -- the problem in Mauritania. In June 2009, Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb took responsibility for shooting an American relief worker as a response to US military operations in Afghanistan. In December 2007, Al-Qaeda killed four French tourists and launched three attacks on Mauritanian refugee camps, leaving dozens dead. This was a response to Israel's attacks on a refugee camp in Gaza in February 2008. Meanwhile, newly elected leader Walid Abd Al-Aziz in Mauritania was warned by Al-Qaeda after he declared his intention to fight terrorism. Before this, however, Mauritanian security forces talked about the intention of many suicide-bombers to enter Mauritania to carry out suicide operations against Western interests. Authorities announced that a terrorist cell specialising in explosive belts might enter Mauritania from Al-Qaeda camps and carry out operations. Security forces in Tunis have put a stop to the occurrence of terrorist attacks recently, as the nation's territory is small and does not equal Algeria's breadth, or Morroco's, or Mauritania's. Two years ago the government succeeded in convincing the Tunisian Combatant Group to enter into dialogue with them. However, Mali and Niger and Chad in the west and in the centre of the Sahara do not have the same power to control their borders and to put an end to Al-Qaeda's activities. The rebel Tuareg people, who complain of a lack of political agency and a bad regional economy, are trafficking with members of Al-Qaeda and dealing drugs. In June of 2009, the Malian army announced the murder of 26 Al-Qaeda members in attacks on their camp on the border of Algeria after killing a British tourist and kidnapping three other European tourists. The Tuareg rebellion also helps to spread the movement of Al-Qaeda in Mali and Niger, where the rebellion in Chad and a lack of stability there helps Al-Qaeda as well. And so it seems that Al-Qaeda has rooted itself in the Maghreb and in the Greater Sahara despite these countries' governments signing an agreement to cooperate in fighting terror. More than one conference has been held to increase security on their porous borders, and security officials have attended and Western experts as well. American military sources have reported the existence of a number of individuals from Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb which ranges from 300 to 400 members. Most of them are in the mountains in the east of Algeria with a ring of support. The group numbers around 200 in other countries. As long as injustice and poverty and unemployment remain within these Saharan countries, and a bias towards Israel and regimes that cater to the West, Al-Qaeda will gain more supporters.
