Al-Qaeda in Africa

(Timbuktu, Mali) It appears that Al-Qaeda is getting real comfortable in Mali.

Al-Qaeda in Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) has a new strategy to bolster its ranks in northern Mali: bringing in recruits from the Maghreb.

Sharia Delivery Vehicles

Maghreb militants are flocking to Timbuktu, Kidal and Gao to join al-Qaeda brigades, local officials report.

"Hundreds of fighters from Tunisia, Libya and the Maghreb have arrived in northern Mali to join al-Qaeda, Malian daily L'Express quoted a defence ministry official as saying on Sunday (May 6th).

The Timbuktu spokesperson for Islamist group and al-Qaeda ally Ansar al-Din told Magharebia: "We can't confirm or deny the arrival of new recruits to al-Qaeda in the region."

Sanad Ould Bouamama added, however, "It's not in our interests to expel them as long as their goal is to fight apostates and apply the Islamic Sharia we all seek."

"We're different from them because we are a local group," Ould Bouamama stressed. "Al-Qaeda's presence extends from Mauritania to Niger and Libya, and they can take any of their elements to areas that are under their control."

The international community is raising alarms about the wider threat al-Qaeda poses after its expansion into Mali.

"We are very worried by what is happening in Mali and its impact on the region," UN High Commissioner for Refugees Antonio Guterres said this week.

"We need to create the right conditions to avoid this crisis becoming a threat to global security," he added, appealing to the international community to get involved. [ed. bold]

It is more than a mere regional crisis, he said. It is a "risk to peace and security all over the world".

Timbuktu mayor Hallé Ousman noted that AQIM members from all over now move freely in the region.

"Al-Qaeda's elements can enter and exit anytime. This has become a usual thing for us. They can pass in front of me without being observed," he said.

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