Replies

https://
www.cimicweb.org/cmo/ComplexCoverage/Documents/Reports/rT002_Al_Qaeda_and_African%20Arc_of_Instability_%2817-Dec-12%29.pdf

http://
www.cna.org/sites/default/files/research/Libya_Sahel_Security_Workshop.pdf

allafrica.com/stories/201212310063.html

Moroccan American Center for Policy (Washington, DC)

“North Africa: New Studies Warn Mali Crisis, Al-Qaeda Driving ‘Arc of Instability’ Across Africa”
29 DECEMBER 2012

SNIPPET: “Washington — Two new studies report that “the growing role of al-Qaeda across northern Africa,” fueled by the Mali crisis and Libyan arms influx, is creating an ‘Arc of Instability’ across Africa’s Sahel that poses an “acute threat” to countries in the region and to Europe and the US.

The studies — by NATO Allied Command’s Civil-Military Fusion Centre, “Al Qaeda and the African Arc of Instability,” and CNA Strategic Studies, “Security Challenges in Libya and the Sahel” — also cite or link to evidence of ties to al-Qaeda groups by members from the Polisario-run refugee camps near Tindouf, Algeria.”

Page 2 - SNIPPET: “The NATO CFC study says “Jihadists and other militants thrive in power vacuums, especially in areas where there are large numbers of accessible weapons, such as in Libya, Mali and Syria.

In North Africa, militant Muslims and Islamists have taken advantage of recent upheavals thereby thriving and growing in influence, creating what is now being referred to as an ‘Arc of Instability’ that stretches from the coast of West Africa across the Sahel region into the Horn of Africa.” The study, which links to an earlier report by the International Center for Terrorism Studies, says that “On the African continent, ties between radical groups Boko Haram, al Shabaab, al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) and its offshoots - the Unity Movement for Jihad in West Africa (MUJAO) and Ansar Dine - are becoming stronger; as are ties with al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) in Yemen.””