Algeria concerned over merger of GSPC and al-Qaeda

20/10/2006

Algeria is remaining vigilant in the fight against terrorism as evidenced by numerous search operations carried out over the past two months against the Salafist group for Preaching and Combat. The nation is particularly concerned by the group's recent merger with al-Qaeda, which may undermine its national reconciliation plan.

By Nazim Fethi for Magharebia in Algiers – 20/10/06

[Getty Images] A GSPC-provided image showing spiritual guide Sheikh Ahmed Abu al-Baraa with leader Abu Musaab.

While the Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat (GSPC) was long thought to have links to al-Qaeda, the recently-declared merger of the two groups has Algeria concerned.

Al-Qaeda deputy leader Ayman al-Zawahiri released an internet videotape on September 11th indicating that al-Qaeda founder Osama bin Laden had given his personal approval to the "blessed union" between the Algerian network and al-Qaeda.

"The leadership of al-Qaeda doesn't have a secure base left anywhere else in the world," Liess Boukraa, a terrorism expert in Algiers, told the Washington Post, adding, "So al-Qaeda needs the GSPC at the logistical level. The GSPC needs al-Qaeda at the ideological level."

President Abdelaziz Bouteflika reiterated on September 27th Algeria's determination to continue to fight GSPC elements.

"The abject remnants of terrorism are inescapably bound to disappear. We shall not be happy until we have eradicated it forever as the rule of law becomes established," he declared.

Algerian authorities had been a bit less concerned with the GSPC in recent years, as it was mainly confined to the Kabylian scrublands and its few demonstrations of strength included roadblocks of military convoys.

However, the return of former GSPC leader Hassan Hattab has made the GSPC a more serious threat. The return was announced in an unauthenticated communiqué dated October 7th, which was published by the Algerian state press.

Hattab, who had for some time indicated that he might negotiate with the government, seemed to renounce the national reconciliation policy, which has been a source of hope for many Algerians recovering from the wounds of a decade-long civil war in which an estimated 150,000 civilians were killed.

In the communiqué, Hattab's successor Abdelmalek Deroukdal vowed the GSPC will not allow itself to be captured like Madani Mezrag's Islamic Salvation Army. He declared jihad and that his organisation "has patience, ultra-modern weaponry and experienced men".

Algeria and its neighbouring countries are seeking broader anti-terrorism co-operation as security and stability of the whole region are at stake. The nations also want to target the conditions which caused it to emerge.

Algeria, which shares a border of more than 2,000 kilometres with Mali and Niger, is preparing a co-operation policy with both countries to guard against terrorism and criminality.

The security threat in the Sahel-Saharan region has been a focus of attention in recent years for Algeria and its strategic partners, including the United States and the EU. Algeria continues to draw its partners' attention to the vulnerability of the Sahara to terrorism.

Boubacar Gaoussou Diarra, the new director of the African Centre for Study and Research into Terrorism (CAERT), asked African governments on October 5th to increase their joint efforts and co-operation in the fight against terrorism at a terrorism-themed meeting of the Council for Peace and Security for the African Union in Dakkar. He called on them to offer support to the CAERT, particularly in exchanging intelligence.

The extension of the GSPC beyond the Algerian border across five nations, as well as its connections with other groups and the risk of al-Qaeda cells being set up, have led to an appreciation in recent years of the need for strengthened policies from the countries of the Sahelo-Saharan region to combat terrorism co-operatively and to secure borders.

Recognising the threat, the United States has been working to fight against terrorism in the region.

Since January 2004, the US military has deployed resources to support the local armies' fight against the GSPC and its local connections through the Pan Sahel Initiative.

In June 2005, the US army carried out three weeks of anti-terrorist exercises in the Sahel, which included Algerian participation, as part of its "Operation Flintlock 2005", which aimed at preventing the desert zones from becoming terrorist hideouts.

The programme, developed by the Pentagon, Central Intelligence Agency and the State Department has expanded from Niger, Mauritania, Mali and Chad to the upper Maghreb.