AQIM Suicide Bombing in Tizi Ouzou- update

Al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) has claimed responsibility for yet another devastating suicide attack, which this time wounded some 25 people, including four police men.

A message, along with a photo indentifying the bomber as Makhlouf Abu Mariam, pictured clutching a grenade and pistol, was posted on a militant Islamist website.

• The bomber was attempting to drive a truck laden with 600 kg of explosives into a police station in the town of Tizi Ouzou in eastern Algeria but detonated his device after being prevented from coming close enough to the station.
• The explosion ripped through a nearby block of flats causing significant damage, a number of cars were also set alight according to reports in the Algerian media.
• The message issued by the group was stark, warning that "our finger is on the trigger and our convoys of martyrs are longing to rampage your bastions in defence of our Islamic nation".
• The group said the bombing should be a warning to the "sons of France", "the slaves of America and their masters".
• The Islamists recently vowed to step up attacks against the government which it accuses of colluding with the United States and Western states against the Algerian people

The Rest @ Lexis Nexis

Batista Tagme Na Wai continues Narco Intimidation In Guinea-Bissau

Keep an eye on Batista Tagme Na Wai General of Guinea-Bissau's Army.

• He Threatened and Intimidated the Guinea-Bissau National Chief of Police when she was holding drug cartel suspects, releasing them.
• The UN tried to Board a plane suspected of carrying drugs from Latin America, creating stand-off between the judicial police tasked with combating drugs crimes and military personnel who tried to prevent police boarding the aircraft.
• Now, Genral Batista Tagme Na Wai, "suspended and disarmed" The head of the Navy, (Rear-Admiral Jose) Americo Bubo Na Tchuto yesterday. (See below)

I suggest his contacts with South and Central American drug traffickers bear analysis.

-Shimron
see bellow
BISSAU, Aug 7 (Reuters) - Guinea-Bissau has suspended its navy chief in a further jolt to the country's establishment after the government and parliament were dissolved this week, an armed forces official and a security source said on Thursday.

President Joao Bernardo Vieira faces a constitutional crisis at the same time as the United Nations and Western donors are pressing for more decisive action to tackle Latin American gangs who smuggle cocaine via the country's shoreline and airstrips.

"The head of the Navy, (Rear-Admiral Jose) Americo Bubo Na Tchuto was suspended and disarmed yesterday by the head of the armed forces, General Batista Tagme Na Wai," said an official at the armed forces headquarters who declined to be named.

The official said Na Tchuto was under house arrest, which a United Nations official and a security source confirmed.

U.N. officials have piled pressure on Guinea-Bissau to combat drug smuggling since two planes suspected of being used by traffickers were seized at its main airport last month.

The seizures led to a stand-off between the judicial police tasked with combating drugs crimes and military personnel who tried to prevent police boarding the aircraft. No drugs were found but three Venezuelan nationals were arrested.

The airport's two senior air traffic control officials were also arrested, adding credence to suspicions among U.N. and international anti-drug enforcement officers that officials in Guinea-Bissau's establishment were involved in drug smuggling.

"Planes land and take off any old how...just as boats dock and leave again without the state authorities even being informed about it," Vieira said on Wednesday at the inauguration of new Prime Minister Carlos Correia.

Vieira appointed Correia, an old ally, to fill the power vacuum left when the Supreme Court ruled a law extending the assembly's mandate until elections in November was illegal.
That forced Vieira to dissolve parliament, effectively terminating the government's term of office too.

Na Tchuto's suspension is a new blow to stability in Guinea-Bissau, which has suffered a string of military coups and mutinies since it won independence in 1974 after a bitter and destructive war with colonial power Portugal.

The Rest @ Africa Reuters

Mourad Seghir Killed by Algerian Security Forces

in a car bomb targeting a police station in the centre of Tizi Ouzou Sunday morning (August 3rd). The blast came days after authorities reportedly killed al-Qaeda's principal financer in Algeria.

Residents of the city's Elkalitousse district woke up to the sound of the blast at approximately 5:00am. The police station is reportedly situated near a military barracks and a dormitory for intelligence personnel.

The explosion left 25 people injured, including four policemen. The only person to die was the suicide bomber himself, who was driving an explosives-laden car from neighbouring Boumerdès wilaya.

The bomber's body parts were strewn about the scene of the attack.
Ambulances rushed to the scene and carried the injured to the city hospital for treatment. Hospital officials said Sunday evening that 24 of the 25 injured people were discharged from the hospital. One victim underwent minor surgery.

Interior Minister Noureddine Yazid Zerhouni and General Director of National Security Ali Tounsi arrived to inspect the situation shortly after the bombing was announced.
Eyewitnesses said damage from the attack might have been more extensive had it taken place days ago, as the dormitory was emptied last week when agency personnel moved to a new building.

Speaking to the press, the interior minister said the intelligence agency had been targeted because of the role it played in killing several important members of al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) over the past two years.

Several similar attacks in recent months have been blamed on the terror organisation, led by Abdelmalek Droukdel.

• Security experts say that with the success of Algeria's intelligence agencies in penetrating the ranks of al-Qaeda, a number of key terrorists have been eliminated.
• AQIM second-in-command Samir Sayoud, alias Samir Abou Mosaab, was killed in April 2007. \
• Droukdel's top aide and military advisor Ali Dix was eliminated in July of the same year.
• In October, the authorities dismantled the terrorist cell responsible for the April 11th attacks and killed the mastermind of the operation, Zoheir Harik.
• And in April of this year, they killed Abderahmane Bouzegza, emir of the Farouq Battalion.
  

The most recent elimination of a top al-Qaeda terrorist was that of Mourad Seghir, aka El Pompier, by Algerian security forces on July 31st.

A former fire fighter, 43 year old Segir was AQIM's principal financer in Algeria, security forces say. El Pompier terrorised the local population, kidnapping the wealthy and demanding taxes from the poor. Those who did not pay the ransoms or taxes were threatened with death, or their crops destroyed, sending them into financial ruin.

El Pompier and his assistant Ben Dahman Muhamad were killed early Thursday morning when police stormed the downtown Boumerdès apartment where the two were hiding. Kalashnikovs and more than 20 million dinars in ransom and blackmail money were found on the premises.

• The interior minister noted that many of the abductees' families had opted to call the police in lieu of paying the money demanded by the terrorists.

Had all families succumbed to the threat, Zerhouni said, al-Qaeda would have collected an additional 60 million dinars.
Residents of Boumerdès were breathing easy again after hearing the news of El Pompier's death. Le Soir d’Algerie reported on August 2nd that peasants and affluent families alike were happy to finally be rid of the terrorist, particularly with the approach of the grape harvesting season, known as a time when terror groups often threaten to sabotage crops in order to extract payments from farmers.

With the elimination of El Pompier, and the July 22nd announcement by Security Director Ali Tounsi that Algerian security services would soon cover all of the country's territory, including the Kabylia region, some security experts say the suicide attack in Tizi Ouzou was an attempt by AQIM to undercut the Algerian officials' optimism about the improved security situation in the country.

Speaking to Magharebia, security expert Bouelam Ghoumrassa said that through its most recent operation, al-Qaeda wanted to confirm that it was still able to hit and target symbols of the state.
Asking if al-Qaeda was successful in its attempt to destabilise the pillars of the Algerian state, Ghoumrassa suggested that it was not.

The Rest @ Magharebia

GAO says Trans-Sahara Counterterrorism Partnership Member Plans are not Integrated

U.S. counterterrorism efforts flounder in North Africa, GAO says
By Katherine McIntire Peters
August 5, 2008

Federal agencies agree that terrorist activity in North Africa presents a growing security threat to U.S. interests. Vast ungoverned spaces, porous borders and groups aligned with al Qaeda have raised concerns about the area becoming a safe haven for terrorists to launch attacks against the United States.

But the agencies most responsible for implementing a key counterterrorism partnership program -- the State and Defense departments and the U.S. Agency for International Development -- can't seem to agree on how to implement policy there.

Disagreements between State and Defense over the control of personnel and activities, and funding fluctuations in USAID programs have hindered U.S. objectives in the region, according to a new report by the Government Accountability Office. In addition, agencies have no way of measuring the effectiveness of their activities.

The Trans-Sahara Counterterrorism Partnership is the primary vehicle of U.S. counterterrorism policy in northwest Africa, GAO noted.

Through diplomacy, development assistance and military activities, the multiagency effort, led by State, aims to limit the spread of extremist ideology, strengthen government institutions and foster cooperation among the nations of the regions known as the pan-Sahel (Mauritania, Mali, Chad and Niger); the Maghreb (Morocco, Algeria and Tunisia); and the sub-Sahara (Nigeria and Senegal).

A central problem, GAO found, was that the three agencies developed separate plans related to their respective partnership activities. While those plans reflect some collaboration, "they do not provide an integrated, comprehensive approach to guide [the partnership program] overall," GAO reported.

What's more, State and Defense have not been able to agree on which department exercises authority over military personnel temporarily assigned to conduct partnership activities. Both agree that State is responsible for security and coordination of all government personnel assigned to diplomatic and consular posts abroad, except for personnel under the command of a U.S. military commander. They also agree that Defense is responsible for all activities carried out by military personnel deployed by a combatant commander.

• State asserts that military personnel are subject to an ambassador's supervision because they seek clearance from the ambassador to enter the country.
• Defense argues that such personnel are not under an ambassador's authority.

The consequences of this disagreement have been felt on the ground. In Niger in 2007, Defense suspended most of its partnership activities after the ambassador limited the number of Defense personnel allowed to enter the country. State said the limits were set because the embassy was worried about the country's fragile political environment as well as limited space and staff available to support Defense personnel.

In Chad, the ambassador recently called for a "strategic pause" in implementing partnership programs, "stating the need to reassess available embassy personnel to support DoD activities in country," GAO found.

"Lacking guidance from agency headquarters, country team officials have tried to establish agreements between State and DoD," but those agreements have not been considered valid by Defense and State officials in Washington.

Inconsistent funding also has plagued the counterterrorism partnership program. For example, USAID had to suspend support for partnership development activities in Mali in 2006, because the activities weren't funded (even though the agency received funding for the activities in 2005 and 2007). Agency officials told GAO the funding inconsistencies caused the Mali government to question the agency's commitment.

The partnership is not funded directly by Congress; rather agencies pay for the program at their discretion through various appropriations accounts. From 2005 through 2007, the three agencies together obligated about $230 million for partnership activities; in 2008, they have committed to spending about $123 million. Defense obligations for 2005-2007 and commitments for 2008 accounted for the bulk of that funding: $256 million. State and USAID, whose funding is determined by State's director of foreign assistance, together contributed $96 million during the same period.

Besides addressing the inconsistent funding problem for USAID and resolving the issue of authority over military personnel, GAO recommended that State spearhead the development of a comprehensive strategy for the partnership program and "include clear goals, objectives and milestones, including output and outcome indicators, and identify resources needed to achieve the program's goals."

"Given the growing threat of terrorism in northwest Africa, as well as the possibility of [the partnership program's] expansion to other countries and agencies, addressing these factors is essential to strengthening U.S. agencies' collaborative efforts to combat terrorism in the region," GAO concluded.

The value of the partnership program likely will grow in importance. State's 2007 country reports on terrorism, released in April, described the growing threat posed by al Qaeda in North Africa. Al Qaeda in the Maghreb, or AQIM, formed in 2006 as an alliance between al Qaeda and the group formerly known as the Algerian Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat. AQIM claimed responsibility for the near-simultaneous bombings of the Algerian Constitutional Council and the United Nations headquarters in Algeria on Dec. 11, indicating that foreign interests now are being targeted.

The Rest @ GovernmentExecutive.com

Posted on August 6, 2008

A new report, released recently from the United Nations, cited grave children rights violations - including child soldier recruitment - being committed by all fighting forces in Somalia, including the Transitional Federal Government (TFG), the Union of Islamic Courts (UIC), and Al-Shabaab (designated a terrorist organization by U.S. Dept of State in March). From UN.org.

… Mr. Ban called on the TFG and opposition groups to renounce the recruitment and use of children in their armed forces…

• The widespread use of children in almost all fighting forces in the country was noted, particularly in Mogadishu.
• ...children have been used to plant roadside bombs and other explosive devices, leading to a few deaths and several injuries among the children…
• It has been reported that street children are being used for the planting of these devices, frequently without their knowledge.

It has also been reported that Al-Shabaab is training children as young as 8 years of age in special camps to plant bombs and carry out assassinations, offering a financial reward for those acts.

The report by Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon strongly urges Somalia’s Transitional Federal Government to stop all new recruitment of children and to demobilize unconditionally all children who participate in any capacity in its armed forces.

href="http://www.europarl.europa.eu/document/activities/cont/200806/20080623ATT32492/20080623ATT32492EN.pdf" target="_blank">Here is a resolution from the European Parliment on the Routine Killings of Civilians in Somalia from June.

The Rest @ Child Soldier Relief

Droukdel Serves Al Qaeda

Though this is "old news" it is interesting that Islamists in Algeria publicaly appear to like the idea that Droukdel is under the influence of al Qaeda.

-Shimro


Madani Mezrag (former head of the AIS militia) believes that Abdelmalek Droukdel, leader of AQIM (in Algeria), is under the influence of foreign intelligence services, though he may be unwitting in this.

• Interviewed by El Khabar, Mezrag did not state which services or how he knew this. The idea that AQIM and/or other Islamist militias in Algeria are or were funded by foreign intelligence services is commonly repeated by Algerian Islamists, generally denoting their sympathy for the organization in question’s aims; Mezrag therefore states that he does not question Droukdel’s “sincere readiness to die for Islam.”
• Mezrag also challenges the idea that Bouteflika was the “mastermind” of the Peace and National Reconciliation agreement. Instead he tells Algerians to thank PM Ahmed Ouyahia for his efforts as far back as 1997 constructing the idea of the Reconciliation Charter, and Bouteflika for its implementation.
• He furthermore states that the procedures that would have lead to a truce under President Zeroual were “lacking.”

The Rest @ The Moore Next Door

Fazul Abdullah Mohammed

Sun 3 Aug 2008, 13:29 GMT

MOMBASA, Kenya (Reuters) - One of Africa's most wanted al Qaeda operatives, sought for his role in the bombings of U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania, has narrowly escaped capture in Kenya, police said on Sunday.

Fazul Abdullah Mohammed, high on Washington's list of terrorist suspects, left a home in the Indian Ocean resort of Malindi late on Saturday just minutes before officers crashed through the door, police said.

"We sealed off the whole area and had sea and land patrols but unfortunately, Fazul got leakage of the intended raid and escaped," said one senior detective who asked not to be named.
"We are still looking for him."

The United States has offered a $5 million reward for information leading to the capture of the Comorian, who speaks five languages and is said to be a master of disguise, forgery and bomb making.

He is accused of playing a lead role in the 1998 embassy attacks in Nairobi and Dar es Salaam, which killed 240 people.

Kenyan police said they found two passports believed to belong to Mohammed and arrested two people, including the owner of the home, which is near the Malindi district hospital.

Another police source said more than 50 officers took part in the raid, and that Mohammed appeared to have been staying at the house for several days.

"Our intelligence reports show that he came into the country from Somalia to seek medical attention because of a kidney condition," the source told Reuters.
By Celestine Achieng

The Rest @ Reuters Africa

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