AQIM Recruits in Morocco Aim at Europe

Morocco smashes three-member Al Qaeda-linked network

RABAT Morocco said on Friday it had broken up a three-man cell with links to Al Qaeda, while Mali’s intelligence officials say the group is seeking to infiltrate into Morocco to facilitate attacks inside Europe.

Al Qaeda’s North Africa branch “is looking through all available means” to develop a network in Morocco, both to “destabilise the country, but also to more easily attack Europe”, said a report from Mali’s security services, seen by AFP.

Morocco explained that the group it identified planned to carry out attacks on security headquarters and western interests in the country.

“The members of this cell intended to join camps of Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) outside Morocco to undergo military training with the aim of returning to the kingdom to carry out criminal acts,” the interior ministry said.

Mali’s intelligence report noted that Morocco had, up to now, successfully thwarted any infiltration by AQIM, but the group is nevertheless resolved to penetrate the kingdom.

A Moroccan security source said the uncovered AQIM cell was “very dangerous”, adding that it was “the first time AQIM is implicated in a planned operation inside Morocco”.

Morocco said the cell called the Al Battar Squadron, “included a former detainee under anti-terrorist legislation, and was headed by one of the most active individuals on jihadist Internet sites with links to the Al Qaeda network”.

“This individual had close relations with terrorist organisations in Yemen, Afghanistan, Somalia, Libya and Iraq,” a ministry statement added.

The interior ministry said: “The members of this cell were in constant contact with the leadership of AQIM with the aim of obtaining the weapons necessary for carrying out their criminal project in the country and of coordinating their operations in line with the objectives of this terrorist organisation.”

Mali’s report said that to combat AQIM’s expansionist plans, the region’s security services must boost cooperation, and that “the fight cannot only be left to Algeria”.

The report noted Niger, Nigeria and Chad as countries with whom ties must be strengthened.

“The contacts between Boko Haram of Nigeria and AQIM must lead Mali’s government to diversify its relations and its methods of combat,” the report said.

Boko Haram has claimed responsibility for an August 26 attack on the United Nations compound in the Nigerian capital Abuja that killed at least 23.

AQIM has organised a series of attacks and kidnappings from its bases in northern Mali, notably against foreigners. Along with Niger and Mauritania, Mali is the country most affected by the group’s activities to date.

On Friday, at least one person died and several others were injured when their car drove over a landmine in a northern Mali forest where AQIM was known to operate, security officials said.

The Rest @ Oman Tribune

Time for Resupply for Al Qaeda in North Africa

The "Libya civil war has provided an opportunity to transfer weapons into the Sahel and AQIM."

- Mohammed Benhammou

-Shimron Issacahr

WASHINGTON, June 3, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Foreign policy experts at two forums this week examined the seismic changes of the 'Arab Spring' and focused on the importance of U.S. and European engagement with progressive leaders in the Middle East and North Africa for determining whether the current unrest will lead to reform, repression, or violent revolution.

Well-armed mercenaries recruited by Col. Qadhafi from Mali, the Polisario Front in Algeria, and elsewhere, and resurgent terrorists from al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM), are stocking up on arms from Libya and are eager to exploit unrest in the region after Osama bin Laden's death.

At an Atlantic Council symposium, "Preventing the 'Arab Spring' from Becoming the 'Season of Discontent,'" policy experts discussed the uncertain forecast and how to promote positive change in this pivotal part of the world.

Analyst Geoffrey Porter said "every country in the Middle East and North Africa is different" and must be understood on its own terms. Dr. Anouar Boukhars of McDaniels College pointed to Morocco where "reform efforts have strengthened its legitimacy," citing King Mohammed VI's March 9 speech on constitutional reforms. Dr. J. Peter Pham, moderator of the panel, saidMorocco's reforms were "triggered by an inside reality and not imposed from the outside," and successful reform in other countries must be "internally driven."

Anthony Cordesman of the Center for Strategic and International Studies emphasized the importance of understanding that the 'Arab Spring' unrest is being driven by demand for economic as well as political change. Long-term solutions will require strategic choices in an uncertain climate.

Ambassador Edward Gabriel said the U.S. and Europe can play a key role in promoting positive change. He proposed a 3-part "long-term strategy with countries that have taken reform seriously," such as Morocco and Jordan, to build partnerships for growth and "strategic dialogue" to better understand change shaping the region.

Prof. Yonah Alexander of the International Center for Terrorism Studies warned that al-Qaeda and state-sponsored terrorism are "alive and well" in the Maghreb and Sahel, where terrorist incidents have risen 500% since 9/11 and are a global as well as regional threat. He also noted the concerns expressed by NATO officials about mercenaries in Libya.

At the Association for the Study of the Middle East & Africa (ASMEA) forum, "Terrorism in North Africa After bin Laden," investigative reporter Richard Miniter warned "AQIM is taking advantage of the 'Arab Spring' to expand and grow." ProfessorRichard Rene Laremont of SUNY said AQIM's "narrative was weakened because change came through mass civil demonstrations, not terrorism," but that it would be reinvigorated if reforms aren't realized.

Spanish journalist Jose Maria Gil Garre, noted that AQIM has succeeded in part because it can "depend on support of military elements of the Polisario," a separatist group based in Algeria, as local guides to "carry out its arms trafficking, kidnapping, and drug-trafficking in the Sahel."

Mohammed Benhammou, of the Moroccan Center for Strategic Studies, said that "600 members of the Polisario" answered the call for mercenaries in the Libyan conflict, because decades ago "Qadhafi was the father of the Polisario"—"now they are returning the favor." Benhammou warned the "Libya civil war has provided an opportunity to transfer weapons into the Sahel and AQIM."

He added that while "Morocco has been a model for the region" with its reforms, "Algeria has taken a wait and see attitude." Benhammou cited the need for "economic integration" in the region, which currently has one of the lowest cross-border trade rates in the world. Laremont added that Algeria needs to "realize it is in its interest to stop bickering with Morocco and cooperate" to address economic and security challenges facing the region.

The Rest @ The American Moroccan Center for Policy

Five Moroccan soldiers On Trial for Arms Trafficking to AQIM

Five Moroccan soldiers will face trial for allegedly taking bribes from arms traffickers and allowing them to smuggle weapons into the country, Interior Minister Moulay Taieb Cherkaoui said on Wednesday (January 12th) at a Rabat press briefing.

"These soldiers helped smugglers introduce contraband goods in exchange for sums of money, without ever checking the nature of these... smuggled products, that were often carried on camels' backs," the ministry said.

The arms were reportedly supposed to be used by al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM). The soldiers were serving in Amghala, where last week security forces dismantled a 27-member terrorist cell and uncovered three weapons caches.

According to the ministry, the cell's Moroccan ringleader aimed to set up an al-Qaeda base in Morocco and send recruits to AQIM training camps in Algeria and Mali. Members of the terrorist group were reportedly planning attacks on security services and bank robberies to fund their activities.

The minister also commented that Morocco is increasing its vigilance in the fight against terrorism and the security services are on a constant lookout to ensure that planned manoeuvres by terrorists with links to AQIM come to nothing.

An arsenal that included

• 33 Kalashnikovs,
• two rocket-propelled grenades (RPG),
• a mortar and 1998 Kalashnikov ammunition was shown to journalists at the press meeting.

With the announcement of the break-up of the Amghala cell, observers stressed that Moroccan security services need to monitor the porosity of the borders.

For his part, political analyst Mohamed Darif thinks the involvement of soldiers in facilitating the smugglers' activities is nothing new. Morocco has previously arrested security officers caught up in cases of smuggling and drugs trafficking, particularly in the north of the country.

"What is new is the smuggling of weapons. But I do not think that these soldiers, as the minister has pointed out, were quite aware of the content of the cargo. They thought these were goods which did not represent any danger for the security of the country," the expert said.

According to security analyst Mohamed Benhemmou, the information provided by the interior ministry confirms the link between AQIM and transnational crime cells.

"Al-Qaeda uses the full logistical capabilities of organised crime. We must also resist any tendency to discount criminal activities because, when faced with terrorism, we must stamp out transnational organised crime. We find ourselves in a situation where there is intense co-operation between terrorism and smuggling of all kinds, even though the objectives are not the same. Al-Qaeda has ideological and political intentions, while the smuggling networks have economic and financial objectives," he said.

The news stirred mixed reactions among ordinary citizens, with some expressing concern over the terrorist threat and others showing scepticism about the information coming from the state.

"The number of cells which have been broken up proves that Morocco is being targeted. Up to now, the police have been able to thwart a number of terrorist threats. But trouble could come at any time, despite our vigilance, because terrorists are unpredictable," teacher Salah Eddine Machidi told Magharebia.

"Sometimes there is doubt about the real involvement of people who are arrested over acts of terrorism. Our fear is that innocent people are being incriminated without any evidence," said Hassan Bouchama, adding that the government doesn't release enough information about the cells.

This content was commissioned for Magharebia.com.

The Rest @ Magharebia

Polisario Front Linked To Al Qaeda

The Polisario Front is fighting for Independance for Western Sahara, A region South of Morocco on Africa's west coast. They appear to have created significant connections to AQIM, al Qaedas Organization in the Sahel.

This suggests the likelyhood that a deal has been struck between them, so that when Western Sahara becomes a separate nation, It will become an Islamic State, following the lead of The Islamic Emerite of Somalia, The Islamic Emerite of Yemen, The Islamic Emerite of the Caucuses, etc.

Formal terror training camps will follow, as the "dream caliphate" Islamist multi-nation continues to be formed out of little ppockes of countries controlled by Al Aqeda and funded by Ikhwan business networks.

Shimron Issachar

*************************************
Zakia Abdennel

RABAT (Reuters) - Morocco said it had arrested a member of Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) among 26 others who planned to attack security services and rob banks using weapons they hid in an area of the disputed Western Sahara.

Quoting an interior ministry statement, official media said Moroccan security forces recently broke up the 27-member cell and had discovered weapon caches in Amghala, an oasis located in the disputed Western Sahara.

"Moroccan security services have succeeded in dismantling a terrorist cell of 27 members, among whom is a member of Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb who was tasked by this organisation to set up a rear base in Morocco where it would plan terrorist acts," it said.

The ministry did not say when or where they were arrested.

"Members of the cell, supervised by a Moroccan citizen who is in the Al Qaeda camps in northern Mali, have been planning terrorist acts using explosive belts and car bombs that mainly target security services and to rob banks to fund their terrorist projects," it added.

The cell members also planned to send recruits "to AQIM camps in Algeria and Mali to undergo paramilitary training before returning to Morocco to execute their destructive plans using the weapons discovered near Amghala," it added.

Mohamed Darif, an expert on Islamic militancy in Morocco, said the latest arrest is the first to suggest the existence of links between AQIM and the Algeria-backed Polisario Front which seeks independence in the Western Sahara.

"It is only a matter of time before Moroccan authorities officially announce the existence of links between this cell and the Polisario Front. This would give credence to the Moroccan thesis on the existence of links between AQIM and the Polisario," Darif said

The Polisario has been battling for independence for the Western Sahara for 35 years.
Since the rise of AQIM over the last few years, the Moroccan government has said that giving territory to the Polisario in the Western Sahara could make it a haven for Islamist militancy.
Algeria, Polisario's main supporter, is itself battling AQIM militants, some of whom are the inheritors of a movement which led to a bloody civil war from 1991 to 2002.

Violence linked to militancy is rare in Morocco, a staunch Western ally with a reputation for stability that has helped to entice millions of tourists to visit the country.

The last big attack was a series of suicide bombings in the economic capital, Casablanca, in 2003 that killed 45 people.

Since then security services say they have rounded up more than 60 radical cells.

The Rest @ Reuters.com

Six al Qaida Cell Commanders to Surrender in Algeria?

The following is from a brand new blog of unconfirmed veracity, and claims that his report came from the Middle East News Line Cairo branch, but I cannot trace it back to its source, however, we will be reading their output overtime

- Shimron Issachar

Algeria Expects Imminent Surrender Of AQIM Agents

CAIRO [MENL] -- Algeria has been preparing for the imminent surrender of six senior Al Qaida operatives.

Security sources said six cell commanders of the Al Qaida Organization in the Islamic Maghreb were conducting negotiations for their surrender to Algerian authorities. The sources said the two sides were discussing the prospect of amnesty or reduction of any jail sentence for the insurgents.

The Rest @ Al Darb

possibly related from MENL- Shimron

CAIRO [MENL] -- Al Qaida has overseen a network that operates in Spain and has targeted neighboring Morocco.An indictment of suspected Al Qaida insurgents have disclosed plans by an Islamic network to conduct attacks in several cities of Morocco. Theindictment, relayed to the Court of Appeals in Sale, focused on theso-called Abu Yassin cell, aligned to the Al Qaida Organization in theIslamic Maghreb and which was said to have shuttled between Spain and Morocco.

Moroccan Abou Mosaab Anadori Arrested in Spain

March 5th, 2009

By Al Goodman
CNN Madrid Bureau Chie
fMADRID, Spain (CNN)

Spanish Civil Guards have arrested a Moroccan man wanted for alleged terrorist plots in Spain and Morocco, Spain’s Interior Ministry announced Thursday.

The 21-year-old suspect was arrested Tuesday in eastern Tarragona province, near Barcelona, on a Moroccan warrant, but the ministry did not make it public until Thursday.

The man — identified only by his initials, J.M., and an alias, “Abou Mosaab Anadori” — allegedly plotted terrorist attacks in Spain. Moroccan authorities also link him to an alleged plot against tourist sites in Morocco, the ministry said in a statement.

The Rest @ CNN Wire

13 Maghreb Islamists Detained in Spain Today

MADRID, Spain - Spanish police on Thursday arrested 13 men accused of harboring Islamic extremists, including several suspects in the Madrid terror bombings of 2004, and helping them flee the country, the Interior Ministry said.


Police made the arrests in pre-dawn raids in four northeastern towns near Barcelona. Raids also occurred in Madrid and Algeciras in the south. At least 8 of the detainees are Moroccan. The identities of the rest were not immediately provided.

The arrests stemmed from a 2005 police operation during which Spain broke up a terror cell that allegedly recruited people to stage suicide attacks against U.S.-led forces in Iraq and other targets set by al-Qaida, the ministry said in a statement.

The 13 men arrested Thursday are suspected of giving shelter to Islamic extremists, including at least five suspects in the March 11, 2004, train bombings that killed 191 people in Madrid, and helping them to flee the country.

Muslim militants claimed responsibility for the Madrid attack, saying they had acted on behalf of al-Qaida to avenge the presence of Spanish peacekeeping troops in Iraq. However, Spanish authorities say they have found no evidence that al-Qaida ordered or financed the attacks.

Spanish investigators have said one of the fugitive suspects in the Madrid attacks,

• Moroccan Mohamed Afalah, is believed to have died in a suicide attack in Iraq in 2005.
• A confidential police report quoted in Spanish newspapers has said another fugitive, Daoud Ouhnane of Algeria, died in Iraq while fighting coalition forces.

The Rest @ Yahoo News

13 Maghreb Islamists Detained in Spain Today

MADRID, Spain - Spanish police on Thursday arrested 13 men accused of harboring Islamic extremists, including several suspects in the Madrid terror bombings of 2004, and helping them flee the country, the Interior Ministry said.


Police made the arrests in pre-dawn raids in four northeastern towns near Barcelona. Raids also occurred in Madrid and Algeciras in the south. At least 8 of the detainees are Moroccan. The identities of the rest were not immediately provided.

The arrests stemmed from a 2005 police operation during which Spain broke up a terror cell that allegedly recruited people to stage suicide attacks against U.S.-led forces in Iraq and other targets set by al-Qaida, the ministry said in a statement.

The 13 men arrested Thursday are suspected of giving shelter to Islamic extremists, including at least five suspects in the March 11, 2004, train bombings that killed 191 people in Madrid, and helping them to flee the country.

Muslim militants claimed responsibility for the Madrid attack, saying they had acted on behalf of al-Qaida to avenge the presence of Spanish peacekeeping troops in Iraq. However, Spanish authorities say they have found no evidence that al-Qaida ordered or financed the attacks.

Spanish investigators have said one of the fugitive suspects in the Madrid attacks,

• Moroccan Mohamed Afalah, is believed to have died in a suicide attack in Iraq in 2005.
• A confidential police report quoted in Spanish newspapers has said another fugitive, Daoud Ouhnane of Algeria, died in Iraq while fighting coalition forces.

The Rest @ Yahoo News

Morocco Prevents Terror Attacks on Tourists

PDT RABAT, Morocco (AP) --

Moroccan security forces foiled a terrorist plot to attack tourists this summer, in what has become a "near-daily" struggle to root out extremist cells increasingly linked to al-Qaida in Iraq, a top security official said Friday.

Abdelhak Bassou, head of Morocco's Renseignements Generaux domestic intelligence agency, told The Associated Press in a rare interview that four separate terrorist cells have been broken up so far this year.

He said one of those groups, with 11 militants arrested in May, was preparing attacks "planned for this summer" in a plot aimed at tourist hotels in Morocco, which is a largely moderate Muslim kingdom and strong U.S. ally.

The country has seen a rise in radical Islam in recent years, and the government has jailed hundreds of suspected militants since a string of bombings killed 45 people in 2003.

• Bassou said authorities had broken up "about 30 cells" over the past five years and predicted they would dismantle "another three or four" radical cells during the rest of this year. "At this point, it's become near-daily work," he said.
• The investigations have revealed extremist networks that extended from Europe to the al-Qaida terror operation in Iraq, he said.
• Most of the Moroccan cells support al-Qaida in Iraq via militant bases in neighboring Algeria, channeling cash, weapons and combatants, he said.
• Three of the four alleged cells currently being prosecuted were focused on supporting insurgents in Iraq and had smuggled "some 30 to 50 (Moroccan) fighters" into that country, Bassou said.
• "We have to continue to anticipate," he said, adding that the threat also comes from "loose elements" of one or two individuals who plan small attacks on their own.
• Some 1,100 alleged Islamic radicals are now behind bars, either convicted of terrorism charges or awaiting trial.

Bassou said a "huge improvement" in cooperation between Arab and Western intelligence services has helped limit terrorist attacks since the 9/11 assault on the U.S., but he said another factor is that many al-Qaida loyalists are focused on the war in Iraq.

"It doesn't mean they wouldn't blow up a bus of tourists here if they have the opportunity," he said.

• The fact that al-Qaida is relying on many support cells in North Africa for fighters, money and guns is a sign that it is losing ground in Iraq, Bassou said.
• "If they don't show results, I don't give them five more years of existence," he said, contending that al-Qaida needs victories in Iraq to attract new recruits in the Arab world.

Still, Bassou warned, the focus of Islamic extremists could easily shift closer to home, in Europe and North Africa, if al-Qaida in Iraq collapsed.

"It would become more dangerous, we'd have less visibility," he said.

Bassou estimated 3,000 Moroccans are "imbued with jihadist creeds," with a similar number of sympathizers.

Many rights activists, Islamist politicians and even some intelligence experts say Morocco's tough security crackdown, though efficient in preventing large attacks, could radicalize some members of Morocco's legal Islamic parties.

Security services tend to repeatedly "link political Islam to violent Islam, but it's not necessarily the case," Alain Chouet, a former intelligence director at France's DGSE spy agency, said in an interview.

Defense lawyers insist that many of the purported terror suspects in Morocco have no proven links to terrorism. The attorneys have long argued that confessions are often coerced by police and that affiliation to political Islam is at times the only grounds on which defendants are arrested.

Bassou said that arrests are made on solid intelligence and that evidence includes money transfers, weapons and violent propaganda on computers or discs, as well as confessions.
"Should we wait for people to execute their attack before we arrest them?" he asked.

The Rest @ the San Francisco Chronicle

35 Al qaeda Recruits Captured in Morocco

Police in Morocco have arrested 35 members of a network, which is sending its members to carry out suicide bombings in Iraq on behalf on Al-Qa’ida or to join Islamists in neighboring Algeria, the state news agency MAP reported on Wednesday.

According to the report the arrests were carried out in several cities across the country.

Ever since a string of suicide bombings in the country’s economic capital killed 45 people, the government, which is considered key ally of the U.S. in the war on terror, has launched a crackdown on local Islamists and is currently holding some 1,000 people in jail on terror-related charges.

The suspects heading for Algeria were to take part in the fight against the government as members of Al-Qa’ida in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM), which is the official branch of Al-Qa’ida in North Africa.

Since its entry into the region AQIM, which is made up of a mix of local Islamists and veterans from Afghanistan, has introduced methods previously unseen in the region, such as suicide bombings.

Members of AQIM are also suspected of trying to set up cells in Mauritania. The West African country was, until the arrival of AQIM, considered a quiet and stable country, but in the last couple of months the country has experienced jailbreaks and shootouts with police in residential neighborhoods.

The Rest @ The Media Line

Malta a no-show at North Africa-Southern Europe Counter-Terroism Meeting in Mouritania

In the wake of a US State Department report citing concern over Malta’s potential as a staging post for terrorists entering Europe and another warning from Malta’s security service, Malta missed a crucial meeting this week between southern European and north African security ministers on the subject of trans-national terrorism risks threatening both regions.

Malta’s absence from the meeting, which placed the increasing terrorist threat against Europe by North African militants at the top of its agenda, was even more conspicuous by the fact that a report drafted by the Security Committee of Malta’s National Security Service tabled in Parliament this week urged politicians and the country’s law and order structures to keep a lookout for terrorism threats in the light of heightened terrorist group activity in North Africa.

But the reason behind Malta’s absence, where the country was to have been represented by newly installed Justice and Home Affairs Minister Carm Mifsud Bonnici, was not for lack of effort on the part of the government but rather the failure by both sides of Parliament to come up with an agreement on parliamentary pairing.

Speaking in Parliament on Wednesday, Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi remarked it was regrettable Malta had not been represented at the Mauritania meeting because of Parliament’s failure to strike a pairing agreement.

Contacted yesterday, a Justice and Home Affairs spokesperson confirmed the minister had been unable to attend due to the pairing issue, and that Malta had not been represented at the meet on the grounds that it had been a ministerial meeting and as such there had been no point in sending a replacement for the minister.

The meeting came at a critical stage, with the Africa-Europe irregular migration season now coming into full swing, and with an apparent pick-up in terrorist group activity in North Africa.The terrorism phenomenon is gaining ever more ground in north Africa, and the subject matter was treated in depth at the two-day meeting held on Wednesday and Thursday in the Mauritanian capital of Nouakchott.

In recent years, North African countries have suffered bomb blasts and other attacks carried out by Islamic militants, including the North African branch of al-Qaeda.

Spain and other southern European States have also been targeted.Terrorist activities in North Africa have been on the increase once again of late.

• In the meeting’s host nation, {Mauritania] al-Qaeda gunmen have killed French tourists and local soldiers over the last six months.
• Last year Tunisian authorities killed 12 Islamic extremists while breaking up a plot to attack the US and British embassies as well as hotels and nightclubs in Tunis.
• The last 12 months have been particularly bloody for Algeria, with eight suicide attacks killing over 100 people.
• Morocco also appears to be another hotbed, with the Moroccan Islamist Combat Group believed to be responsible for the 2004 Madrid bombings that killed 191 people.Just this week Moroccan authorities arrested 11 al-Qaeda linked suspects allegedly planning a terrorist attack in Belgium
• Southern EU States are also said to be particularly concerned about militant attacks in Algeria.

In its 2007 annual report, Malta’s National Security Service noted that the recent merging of the North African al-Qaeda group and the Salafista “Preach and Combat Group” into the so called al-Qaeda in the Land of Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) group “could have serious implications for the Mediterranean and the European Union as this organisation is taking advantage of the extensive network of operatives that could be exported to the European continent”.

The report also observed how AQIM had affiliated itself with a number of other like-minded groups in North Africa where it had also established extensions and other assets in the Maghreb region, which had reached Europe and Iraq.The amalgamation had taken place in 2006 on the fifth anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attack against the United States, and the group is said to have been growing quickly since.

While the group is still concentrating many of its actions against Algerian military forces and authorities in, according to Osama bin-Laden’s deputy Ayman al-Zawahiri, a “jihad to liberate Algerians from America, France and the children of France”, is thought to be setting its sights increasingly on European targets – presenting a worrying picture for European security forces.

A recent report by the EU’s criminal intelligence agency Europol said that most of the 340 arrested in the EU on terrorism charges between October 2005 and December 2006 had come from Tunisia, Morocco and Algeria – many of which had ties to AQIM.

Another recent report by the US State Department highlighted the potential of Malta serving as a staging post for would-be terrorists seeking clandestine entry into Europe, given Malta’s high influx of undocumented irregular migrants.

The US State Department, in its 2007 Country Report on Terrorism for Malta, noted that, “Malta could become increasingly attractive to terrorist organisations seeking entry into Europe” given the country’s geographic location between North Africa and Europe and Malta’s status as an EU member State.

This week’s 5+5 meeting in Mauritania was held as part of the Inter-governmental Conference of Interior Ministers from the Western Mediterranean. A total of 14 meetings of the forum have been held in which Malta participated, with the exception of this week’s meeting.The meeting saw the participation of Libya, Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia and Mauritania from the North African side, all of which insisted on the importance of communication and education to halt the phenomenon of terrorism.

Southern Europe, meanwhile, was represented by France, Spain, Portugal and Italy, while Malta had been absent from talks that centred around ways of improving exchanges of information and collaboration to confront trans-national security risks seen threatening both regions.

Participating States agreed to share intelligence and work together to fight terrorism, drug-trafficking and illegal migration in the Mediterranean – all areas integral to Malta. The issue of irregular migration is central to the fight against terrorism, while drug trafficking is featuring as an increasingly strong source of financing for North African terrorist groups.

The Rest @ Malta Independent Online

Spain Arrests Six North African Al Qaeda Recruiters

Spain arrests six for recruiting Iraq fighters

Wed 24 Oct 2007, 7:53 GMT

MADRID, Oct 24 (Reuters) - Spanish police have arrested six people linked to an Islamist militant cell that recruited guerrillas through the Internet to fight in Iraq, the Interior Ministry said on Wednesday.

Police are searching six homes and a butcher's shop operated by members of the cell and have taken away documents and computers for examination, the Ministry said in a statement.

The arrests, in the northern province of Burgos, came a week before the verdict is due to be announced in the trial of 28 men accused of killing 191 people in train bomb attacks in Madrid in March 2004.

The cell was led by an Algerian and a Moroccan, the Ministry said. Police carried out the investigation with the help of intelligence from other countries including Sweden, the United States and Denmark.

Since the Madrid train bombings, Spanish security forces have regularly arrested Islamist militants suspected of plotting attacks in Spain or abroad.

The Rest @ Reuters Africa

AQIM Appears Desperate to Regain Support in the Maghareb

Analysts and Algerian citizens view a recent al-Qaeda video calling for jihad against the French and Spanish in the Maghreb as a desperate attempt to regain the support the organisation has lost among citizens and armed group alike.

Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb leader Abdelmalek Droukdel's appearance in the video coincided with his recent ousting by Algerian militant leaders, many of whom oppose al-Qaeda's strategy of targeting civilians.

The Rest @ Maharebia.com

A typical case is that of Saad Houssaini, a.k.a. Moustapha, one of Al Qaeda’s most prominent cadres in Spain and North Africa. Born in Meknes, Morocco, from a middle-class family (his father was a professor)—an almost universal pattern among Al Qaeda cadres, Houssaini obtained a government scholarship to study chemistry and physics at the University of Valencia in Spain. It was there that he was attracted, or recruited, to Islamism under the influence of Sheikh Rachid Ghannouchi, the London-based ideologue and leader of Al-Nahda (the Revival), Tunisia’s major Islamist organization. Already under Spanish surveillance, in 1997 he fled to Taliban’s Afghanistan where he underwent further training in explosives in Al Qaeda camps, met other Moroccans, Bin Laden, Al Zarkawi and Al Zawahiri—the latter was a witness at his marriage. Following the U.S. attack in the fall of 2001, he returned to Morocco in April 2002, became a founder of GICM (Moroccan Islamic Combatant Group, now part of the Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb—AQIM) and trainer of its bomb makers. By September 2006 he was running a network of Moroccan volunteers to Iraq, until his arrest in March 2007.[1] It was under the influence of one of the many “nonviolent” Islamist ideologues in Spain harbored by “Londonistan” that he was radicalized, shifted to jihadism, established personal ties to the Al Qaeda core, and later served as a force multiplier for the organization thousands of miles away.

The Rest @ Spero News

Morocco Preparing for Jihadis

TANGIERS, Morocco – 24 July

Shortly after the failed suicide attacks in Glasgow, Scotland, the Moroccan Interior Ministry declared a heightened state of alert warning of imminent terrorist attacks in Morocco.

According to several Moroccan and Arab terrorist experts, the recent failure of Al Qaeda in Europe will force it to shift its attention to Arab and Islamic countries which enjoy strong relations with the West and the United States and are considered partners on the war on terror.

Morocco fits this description.

During a recent trip from Tangiers to Fez, Jamal Dajania noticed a heightened state of alert. He reported:

• Our driver was stopped and questioned either by the police or by the Royal Darak (Gendarmes) no less than six times.
• According to Almassae, the main Arabic daily newspaper, the threat comes from Al Qaeda in the Arab Maghreb, led by Bin Laden’s self-appointed deputy in Algeria, Abu Al Wadud, who, during a recent televised broadcast made direct threats against Morocco.
• An unnamed source from the Moroccan security service believes that these threats are real, due to two factors: first, this branch of Al Qaeda has always delivered on its threats in the past and second, several known Moroccan terrorists appeared on the tape sitting next to Abu Al Wadud.
• Only a week ago, a suicide car bomb killed at least eight people and wounded thirty in the town of Lakhdaria, about 120 kilometers southeast of Algiers.
• Meanwhile, Moroccan police detained 15 suspected Al Qaeda members who were plotting to blow up sensitive targets in the North African country.
• Morocco has always been considered a bridge between Europe and the Middle East, and between Africa and the Arab world; an Islamic country where ancient traditions intermingle with modernity and where nightclubs and mosques exist on the same block.
• Does Al Qaeda plan to destroy this harmony?
• Since the ascent of Mohammed VI to the throne, Morocco has seen many changes.
• The young king has brought about vital domestic reforms, such as the elevation and protection of the status of women, as well as establishing an independent commission on human rights.
• One of his first decrees was to grant freedom to a number of political prisoners and abolish many of the laws that restricted freedom of the press.
• Though his critics claim that he has not done enough, others believe that he has opened a Pandora’s box full of new troubles. Criticism against the king and various members of the government can be seen daily in the Moroccan press. Articles and op-eds about allegations of fraud by government officials and ministers are common.
• Recently, the press was up in arms about unconfirmed reports that the Moroccan government has plans to grant the United States permission to build a new military base on its soil and use it as a monitoring center for all of Africa.
• Morocco, Algeria, and Tunisia are part of another U.S. project, the Trans-Sahara Counterterrorism Partnership, under which African countries collaborate with U.S. forces to prevent the spread of terrorism and receive intelligence and assistance from the United States.
• With this new openness in Moroccan society, Berbers have been more aggressively seeking recognition of their identity and language (Amazigh).
• The rise of Islamism may be the biggest threat facing the young king.
• On September 7, 2007, some 15 million eligible Moroccan voters are expected to go to the polls during the legislative elections, and many believe that these parliamentary elections will swing in favor of the Islamists.

New America Media, News Analysis, Jamal Dajani, Posted: Jul 24, 2007
The Rest @ New America Media

North African Al Qaeda Offensive Failed

July 17, 2007: Apparently, al Qaeda attempted to plan and carry out spectacular terror attacks in the capital, during the current All Africa Games. But tight security prevented the terrorists from even getting close to the city. Police still believe that there are only a few hundred Islamic terrorists, most of them openly proclaiming allegiance to al Qaeda, and hiding out in rural areas east of the capital. Most of the population is hostile to the terrorists, providing the police with lots of tips about terrorist activities. The terrorists have not found a way to get around this, other than trying hard to keep their activities secret from everyone. This is a major handicap.

July 16, 2007: Police arrested six men who were found to have master keys to hotel rooms used for participants in the current All Africa athletic competitions. The men are believed to be thieves, not terrorists, and are cooperating with police.


July 14, 2007: Police cornered four Islamic terrorists 170 kilometers east of the capital. The terrorists resisted arrest and were killed in a gun battle. One policeman was wounded. In a village 100 kilometers, about fifty Islamic terrorists tried to attack two police stations, but fled without causing any injuries. They left several roadside bombs behind, which were found and disposed of.


The Rest @ Strategy Page

Morocco Pledges Security Pact with Algeria

In a message to Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika on Friday (July 13th), Moroccan King Mohammed VI called for increased co-operation with Algeria in the fight against terrorism. The message, which expressed condolences to the Algerian people after an al-Qaeda attack killed 10 Algerian soldiers and wounded 35 on Wednesday, said that peace and stability in Algeria "are an integral part of Morocco's security".

The King called for solid bilateral co-operation "to eradicate terrorism in our region".
Morocco raised its terrorism alert to its highest level last week, following reports of an imminent terrorist attack. The Interior Ministry confirmed Friday that 15 terror suspects have been arrested this week.


The Rest @ Magharebia.com

Morocco on high al-Qaeda terror alert
By Sammy Ketz in Rabat, Morocco
July 08, 2007 02:21am

MOROCCO'S security forces were on maximum alert today after "established terror threats" by what experts said was the regional branch of al-Qaeda.

Interior Minister Chakib Benmoussa informed the country's security experts yesterday of a “current threat” against the northwest African country.

The alert demands the full mobilisation of the security services and the “redoubling of vigilance”, the interior ministry said after the meeting.

Morocco has been on edge since a series of suicide bomb attacks earlier this year which killed a police officer and injured 45 people.

The Rest from an Austrailian Reporter in Morocco

Algeria & Moroco Bombings Alegedly Unrelated

What happened yesterday (in Casablanca) has nothing to do with the terrorist acts that neighbouring countries have seen," Benmoussa told reporters. "The (Moroccan) group. . . has no direct link with international terrorist networks."

The Rest @ Stuff Co

Al Qaeda Action in Algeria Spreads to Morocco

CASABLANCA, Morocco - Two car bombs in Algeria Wednesday provided jarring reminders of the Islamic insurgency that wreaked havoc there in the 1990s. It was a signal that yet another large-scale battle with militants may be brewing.

For weeks, the government has been fighting Al Qaeda-linked insurgents in the remote highlands of the North African nation. But these are the first attacks on the capital, Algiers , in years – one hit the prime minister's office in the city center and the other a police station in the eastern outskirts. Together the attacks killed at least 30 people.

In neighboring Morocco on Tuesday, three suspected terrorists exploded suicide belts and another was shot dead as police were chasing them. They were all wanted in connection with another suicide bombing on March 11.

The governments of this region, ruled by entrenched authoritarians, face a confrontation with a growing Islamist movement. Some groups are rising up to challenge the government in elections, and others are becoming more violent.

Source: Christian Science Monitor via the SITE Institute