From the New York Times:
They [experts] say North Africa, with its vast, thinly governed stretches of mountain and desert, could become an Afghanistan-like terrorist hinterland within easy striking distance of Europe. That is all the more alarming because of the deep roots that North African communities have in Europe and the ease of travel between the regions. For the United States, the threat is also real because of visa-free travel to American cities for most European passport holders.
Our own expert, Olivier Guitta, reported in THE DAILY STANDARD this week on the alarming spread of terrorist groups in North Africa. His piece, Terror in the Maghreb, made much the same point as New York Times reporter Craig Smith:
GSPC, which officially merged with al Qaeda over the summer–underlined by al Qaeda’s Ayman Al Zawahiri in a September 11, 2006 video–and changed its name a few weeks ago to al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, is clearly the dominant terrorist group in the Maghreb and the countries of the Sahel. The organization’s aim is to make the Maghreb a springboard to Europe with the help of the Algerian Islamist Khalid Abou Bassir, believed to be one of al Qaeda leaders in Europe. This was confirmed last year when Belgian police arrested a Moroccan Islamist named Mohamed Reha, who told police that “not only were we preparing jihad operations in Morocco, but we were working to expand our jihadist movement to all the countries of the Maghreb with the help of our Algerian brothers from the GSPC.”
Guitta also points to “reports that this new terror group has been recruiting scores of Moroccan, Tunisian, and Algerian volunteers; to join the forces of al Qaeda in Iraq.” As worrisome as that may be, it seems Europe has the most to fear from the unchecked spread of these groups. And it will be interesting to see how Europe confronts this problem. Guitta says that the French have a great deal of knowledge about the old-guard GSPC, but the groups is “recruiting every single day in the suburbs of Algiers,” with the aim of enlisting young men who have no criminal background and whom the French authorities will be unable to track. The French are supporting the Algerian government, financially and otherwise, in its fight against the GSPC, but Guitta says that the French so fear their own restive Muslim population, that any direct action is out of the question.
