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The man claiming responsibility for the operation is a veteran jihadist who is also renowned for hostage-taking and smuggling anything from cigarettes to refugees. His name is Moktar Belmoktar, an Algerian who lost an eye while fighting in Afghanistan in his teens and has long been a target of French counter-terrorism forces. Today, he leads a group called Al-Mulathameen Brigade (The Brigade of the Masked Ones), which is associated with al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM.) In the last few years, he has cultivated allies and established cells far and wide across the region.
Assault on In Amenas
The gas complex where Belmoktar's followers struck at dawn Wednesday is in a region that has seen plenty of jihadist activity in recent years, in part because of the collapse of government authority across the Libyan border, just 50 kilometers (31 miles) from In Amenas. Counter-terrorism experts differ as to how the attackers in several pickup trucks may have reached In Amenas, but there are several roads and tracks across uninhabited desert from Libya. On the other side of the border, a patchwork of militia prevails rather than any government presence. A spokesman for Al-Mulathameen told Mauritanian news websites that the attack was in retaliation for Algeria permitting French overflights as part of the intervention in Mali. But regional analysts believe it was too sophisticated to have been planned in days.
Robert Fowler, a former Canadian diplomat who was abducted by Belmoktar's followers in Niger in 2008 - and met the man himself - told CNN, "I suspect they have an intelligence wing and they are constantly looking for ways to grab westerners and embarrass the West and confuse our options. And that's exactly what they are doing." In a 28-minute video that appeared on jihadist forums last month, Belmoktar warned that Al-Mulathameen would soon act against Western interests in the region. "This is a promise from us that we will fight you in the midst of your countries and we will attack your interests," he said. Announcing the formation of an elite commando unit called "Those Who Sign With Blood," Belmoktar said it would be the shield against the "invading enemy." Wednesday's attack in Algeria was claimed in the name of that unit, which Belmoktar said would include "the best of our youth and mujahideen, foreign and local supporters."
Counter-terrorism analysts tell CNN the language suggests this group was dispatched to carry out an act of jihad rather than abduct foreigners for ransom. "This feels much more like attacks staged in the past by other al Qaeda affiliates, rather than another attempt to exchange hostages for ransom, as has often been AQIM's practice," said Andrew Lebovich, a long-time observer of AQIM currently in Senegal. "Belmokhtar likely wants to show he is still engaged in active operations and he is not moving away from the fighting especially at a time when other Jihadists are in active combat against French troops in Mali," he said.
But it is also possible that Belmoktar may try to bargain for the release of al Qaeda operatives held in Algerian jails. In his December message, he said, "To our captive people...it is our promise and our debt as long as we live that we will liberate you, and we sacrifice our lives for you and everything we own to free you." Three al Qaeda operatives were detained last July by Algerian security services, but it's not known whether they were close to Belmoktar.
Marlboro Man
"That goes not only for official American security but also the message is being given to American citizens and American businesses," Nuland told reporters at the State Department. After last year's deadly attack on the U.S. mission in Benghazi, Libya, President Barack Obama ordered a review of security at all U.S. diplomatic facilities. In addition, an independent review board recommended to Clinton security improvements that she has ordered to be implemented. This new review goes beyond diplomatic facilities.
Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, Nuland said, is known for kidnapping and hostage-taking and. "The concern is that groups operating in the region may be trying to do larger scale operations and we want to make sure that any of our citizens and companies operating in the region are reviewing their security practices in light of this." Nuland said the State Department has warned U.S. citizens and businesses previously about such threats but, in light of the Algerian attack, the department is looking "at the posture of official American facilities to ensure that our warnings to American citizens are updated and that our advice to American business is updated. So all of our embassies and consulates in that entire neighborhood are undergoing that exercise again today." The State Department's Overseas Security Council is in touch with U.S. businesses across the region, and has also posted messages on OSAC.gov that are being distributed to registered users, Nuland added.
The day of the attack, Wednesday, Secretary Clinton spoke with the Algerian prime minister. Nuland said the call was "about our willingness to be helpful, about what might be needed, about the desire to keep lines of communication open." She said she expected there will be more contact at that level some time Thursday. "We obviously have open channels of communications in our counter-terrorist channels and diplomatic channels," she added. The State Department, through its consular officials in Washington and personnel at the U.S. Embassy in Algeria are in touch with the families of the Americans who have been taken hostage. Officials say there may be as many as seven of them, although they have not given specific numbers.
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rw scum. British Petroleum screws up and you blame the president?
WTF is WRONG with you assholes?