Algeria to host summit on Sahara Islamist militancy
Posted on 05/23/2011 8:03:30 AM PDT by SunkenCiv
Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb is believed to be behind a string of attacks and abductions. Algeria is to host an international summit to discuss ways of tackling crime and Islamist militancy in the Sahara desert region. The moves comes after ministers from Mali, Niger, Mauritania and Algeria met in the Malian capital Bamako... The al-Qaeda branch has been blamed for several high profile kidnappings and attacks in the region in recent years. Al-Qaeda in the Islamist Maghreb is most active in Algeria, but loose border controls and disagreements between the countries mean it has spread right across the Sahara Desert to Mali and Niger... The BBC's Martin Vogel in Bamako said the Mali meeting was an attempt by the Sahara Sahel states to develop a unified approach to their shared problem of Islamist militancy and of drug smuggling... Mr Messahel told the BBC the talks would help the states reinforce their capacities, and share logistics and information... But our correspondent says Mr Messahel was clearly not planning to invite Western nations to conduct their own military operations against Islamists in the region, something Algeria has long been opposed to... The United States has provided military training to Sahara states since 2002. A spokesman for the State Department told the BBC it would continue to help fight trans-national crime, as well as al-Qaeda.
(Excerpt) Read more at bbc.co.uk ...
Algeria to host summit on Sahara Islamist militancy
A map of the Sahel region showing where Al Qaeda operates (AFP/Graphic)
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