'Numerous' other bodies at Algeria plant (Drudge: All Hostages Dead)

Wehrwolfen · Jan 20, 2013

'Numerous' other bodies at Algeria plant (Drudge: All Hostages Dead)

AP
1/20/2013

Algerian bomb squads scouring a gas plant where Islamist militants took dozens of foreign workers hostage found "numerous" new bodies on Sunday as they searched for explosive traps left behind by the attackers, a security official said, a day after a bloody raid ended the four-day siege of the remote desert refinery.

The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the situation, said the bodies were badly disfigured and difficult to identify.

(Excerpt) News from The Associated Press

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News from The Associated Press

Antares · Jan 20, 2013

This is what happens a Nation of Cheese eating surrender monkeys tries to act tough.

waltky · Jan 20, 2013

Dat's odd - Granny thought 9/11 was s'posed to be a wake-up call...

Algeria crisis is a wakeup call for America
Sat January 19, 2013 - Americans, others have been taken hostage by Islamist militants in Algeria; Frida Ghitis: The hostage crisis is a warning that militants must be pushed back; She says war has been raging in neighboring Mali, with extremists gaining ascendency; Ghitis: The U.S. should aid the Mali government and help stabilize that part of the world

The news that a large number of Westerners, including several Americans, had become hostages in North Africa shook the U.S. once again out of the delusion that it is possible to turn away from the world's problems. Many Americans would like nothing better than to forget about the rest of the planet and focus on all the challenges crying for attention at home. After more than a decade of fighting costly and painful wars in faraway lands, people have grown weary, tired of worrying about complicated conflicts that seem to have no connection to their own lives. But then bad things happen.

On Wednesday, in a dramatic operation in Algeria's portion of the Sahara, Islamist militants in the desert attacked a convoy of oil workers -- the people who work to satisfy the world's need for fuel. The jihadists claimed to have captured more than 40 hostages, including Americans, British, French and others. The U.S. called the incident a "terrorist" attack, and what followed has been the typical flurry of confusion -- possible escapes, killings. Without a doubt, the families of the hostages are suffering unbearable anxiety.

Meanwhile, there is a war raging in Mali, neighbor to Algeria. Until recently a democratic state, landlocked Mali is becoming home to terrorism, as Islamist militants affiliated with al Qaeda and its allies have been conquering the country and brutally subjugating the population in the process. France has just sent military forces to the country after a desperate plea from its president. Fortified with weapons seized from the Libyan war and emboldened by their unstoppable march across Mali, these militant groups have been growing stronger.

The hostage emergency is only the most recent in a dramatic series of events occurring in North Africa over many months. In this chaotic and fluid crisis, we hope the hostages will return safely to their families. But that will not end the bigger crisis in the region. While it unfolds, the rest of the world has to pay attention, whether it likes it or not. Islamist militants, including al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM), have operated in Algeria and other parts of North Africa for years, massacring civilians indiscriminately, taking countless Western hostages, collecting ransom, and more importantly, seeking to overthrow existing governments and imposing their rule. In Algeria, the government has the upper hand.

More Algeria crisis is a wakeup call for America - CNN.com
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Al-Qaida flourishes in Sahara, emerges stronger
Jan 20,`13 -- The Islamists are back as a force in Algeria.

The terrorist attack on an Algerian natural gas plant that left dozens of hostages and militants dead has demonstrated how a failing Algerian insurgency transformed itself into a regional threat, partly by exploiting the turmoil unleashed by the Arab Spring revolts. Al-Qaida's branch in Algeria retreated into a Sahara no man's land between Mali, Algeria and Mauritania after it was largely defeated by the Algerian army in a 10-year war in the 1990s that claimed 200,000 lives. There it grew rich on smuggling and hostage-taking, gained new recruits and re-emerged stronger than ever, armed with looted high-tech weapons from Libya's 2011 civil war.

The audacious assault last Wednesday on Algeria's Ain Amenas gas complex by a multinational band of Islamists shows how long-simmering ethnic tensions in Mali, a civil war in Algeria and a revolution in Libya have combined to create a conflict spanning the deserts and savannahs of both North Africa and West Africa. Algeria's Islamists were driven south into the desert by the military's brutal counterinsurgency tactics - a take-no-prisoners approach vividly on display in the resolution of the latest hostage crisis.

Factions of Al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb became rich in the lawless desert by smuggling guns, drugs and cigarettes and by kidnapping foreigners for ransom. Soon they became involved in the longstanding disputes of the desert Tuareg against the government in Mali, whom the tribesmen felt ignored or abused them. One of their prominent leaders was Moktar Belmoktar, who made millions smuggling and kidnapping and went on to mastermind the attack on the Ain Amenas plant.

While taking up the Tuareg cause in northern Mali, these al-Qaida-allied groups decided to use their new-found strength to settle scores against old opponents like Algeria and the West. "It seems that Moktar has tasked himself with the internationalization of the Mali conflict," said William Lawrence, the North African analyst for the International Crisis Group. "There's no question there is struggle between different groups in the Sahel and Sahara to have the upper hand in claiming the jihad mantle in the region."

Belmoktar fell out with the local al-Qaida franchise, the Al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM), and formed his own northern Mali-based group in December called the Masked Brigade. He promised to attack those threatening the radical Islamist mini-state that was emerging in northern Mali. "We threaten everyone who participated in and planned for the aggression against our Muslim people due to their implementation of Islamic Shariah law on our land," he announced in December on jihadi websites. "You will taste the heat of war in your countries and we will attack your interests."

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konradv · Jan 20, 2013

Roo said: ↑

This is what happens a Nation of Cheese eating surrender monkeys tries to act tough.
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What would Romney have done? What was his plan for Mali? It's easy to talk

AmericanFirst · Jan 20, 2013

Romney might have had a spine like W, instead of being spineless like gore and obamaturd.

waltky · Jan 22, 2013

Granny says, "Dat's right - an' den when dey's done with Europe, dey comin' over here...

Don't care about Mali violence? It's staging for Europe
Source: Al-Qaida strategy to launch attacks on West

WASHINGTON Recent attacks by Al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb in northern Mali may well represent an overall strategy by al-Qaida central headed by Ayman al-Zawahiri to build a stage in northern Africa to launch attacks into Western Europe, informed sources said in a report by Joseph Farahs G2 Bulletin. Initial reports showed indigenous Islamist radical groups attacking key cities in Mali, an escalation of violence that prompted France to commit special forces to route them. France not only had the backing of the U.N. Security Council and the African Union but also of European Union officials who are taking seriously the threats by al-Qaida to target Europe. This comes after Islamist militants in Mali threatened to launch attacks inside France itself.

Mali once was a French colony. There are many Muslim Malians residing in France, making such a threat possible. French commando attacks in Mali have prompted other Islamist groups in neighboring Algeria to take foreign hostages at a major joint Algerian British Petroleum natural gas facility at In Amenas, near Libya. The hostages were taken after the government allowed French overflights of fighters to attack the Islamist radical strongholds in northern Mali, where battles continue. Sources say that with Islamists coalescing forces in Mali and direct French involvement the conflict could morph into Frances Afghanistan, with no end-game in sight.

The U.S. has offered help to the French, which could draw America into another protracted war. So far, the U.S. has provided only intelligence and logistical airlift support for troops from neighboring African Union countries that are joining French forces against the Islamists. Without notifying any country, including the U.S., Algerian security forces sought to take back the facility, resulting in the deaths of many of the hostages. An estimated 80 died in the attack.

Sources say that many of the splinter Islamist groups have united behind AQIM, which is asserting its influence from Libya to Algeria across North Africa and down into Mali, Mauritania, Niger and Chad. AQIM aims to overthrow the Algerian government and set up an Islamic Emirates. The group has vowed to attack Algerian, Spanish, French and American targets, although the most recent attack on the sprawling In Amenas gas field included Japanese and British hostages, who similarly were killed. The raid on the facility was led by Mokhtar Belmokhtar, who launched the attack in the name of AQIM. Belmokhtar said he would only negotiate with Western countries if the French and others leave Mali.

Read more at Don?t care about Mali violence? It?s staging for Europe
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waltky · Mar 2, 2013

The 'One-Eyed' reported killed in Chad...

Head of Chadian army claims troops kill Belmoktar
Mar 2,`13 -- Chad's military chief announced late Saturday that his troops deployed in northern Mali had killed Moktar Belmoktar, the terrorist who orchestrated the attack on a natural gas plant in Algeria that left 36 foreigners dead.

The French military, which is leading the offensive against al-Qaida-linked rebels in Mali, said they could not immediately confirm the information. Local officials in Kidal, the northern town that is being used as the base for the military operation, cast doubt on the assertion, saying Chadian officials are attempting to score a PR victory to make up for the significant losses they have suffered in recent days. Known as the "one-eyed," Belmoktar's profile soared after the mid-January attack and mass hostage-taking on a huge Algerian gas plant. His purported death comes a day after Chad's president said his troops had killed Abou Zeid, the other main al-Qaida commander operating in northern Mali.

If both deaths are confirmed, it would mean that the international intervention in Mali had succeeded in decapitating two of the pillars of al-Qaida in the Sahara. "Chad's armed forces in Mali have completely destroyed a base used by jihadists and narcotraffickers in the Adrar and Ifoghas mountains" of northern Mali, said Army Chief of Staff Gen. Zakaria Ngobongue in a televised statement on state-owned National Chadian Television. "The provisional toll is as follows: Several terrorists killed, including Moktar Belmoktar."

The French military moved into Mali on Jan. 11 to push back militants linked to Belmoktar and Abou Zeid and other extremist groups who had imposed harsh Islamic rule in the north of the vast country and who were seen as an international terrorist threat. France is trying to rally other African troops to help in the military campaign, since Mali's military is weak and poor. Chadian troops have offered the most robust reinforcement. In Paris, French military spokesman Col. Thierry Burkhard said that he had "no information" on the possibility that Belmoktar was dead. The Foreign Ministry refused to confirm or deny the report.

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waltky · Mar 3, 2013

Belmoktar's death still unconfirmed...

Militant says Belmokhtar alive - monitoring service
Sun Mar 3, 2013 - Algerian al Qaeda commander Mokhtar Belmokhtar, reported killed by Chadian troops, is alive, a monitoring service that tracks online militant forums reported a contributor as saying on Sunday.

An unidentified participant in militant website discussions said in a message posted on several forums that Belmoktar was "alive and well and leading the battles himself", the U.S.-based SITE service reported. The message said Belmokhtar, the presumed mastermind behind a hostage-taking at an Algerian gas plant in January, would soon issue a message confirming the news, SITE reported.

Veteran jihadist Mokhtar Belmokhtar speaks in this undated still image taken from a video released by Sahara Media on January 21, 2013.

The death of Belmokhtar, nicknamed 'the uncatchable', has been reported several times in the past. On Saturday, Chad said its forces had killed him in the same part of Mali that they had killed Adelhamid Abou Zeid, al Qaeda's other senior field commander in the Sahara, a few days previously. The killing of Belmokhtar and Abou Zeid, if confirmed, would eliminate al Qaeda's leadership in Mali and raise questions over the fate of seven French hostages thought to be held by the group in the country.

Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) has pledged to avenge a French assault on its fighters in Mali, which Paris said it launched to prevent its former colony becoming a launchpad for wider al Qaeda attacks. The online participant did not indicate how he learned of Belmoktar's status, SITE reported. Ahrar Press, an independent Arabic media organisation, also reported that a source in Belmoktar's group denied claims of his death, SITE reported.

Source
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U.S. still uncertain of jihadist leader’s death
March 3rd, 2013 - The Obama administration is still searching through incoming intelligence reports to look for specific evidence to confirm that jihadist Moktar Belmoktar was killed in a raid by Chad military on a jihadist base in northeastern Mali, a senior U.S. official tells CNN.

"We don't have enough evidence to support the claim" made by Chad, the official said. But he emphasized the U.S. is taking it seriously and "not dismissing it out of hand." "We want to have a level of certainty about it before we say it’s true, and we are not there yet," the official said. He emphasized the U.S. will be looking at the broadest range of intelligence information it can to try to verify Belmoktar's death. "We'll be looking at things you can't even think of," he said. On Saturday, officials with Chad's armed forces said its troops in Mali had killed Belmoktar.

Belmoktar led a group called Al-Mulathameen Brigade, which is associated with al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb. He had claimed responsibility for a deadly attack on an Algerian gas facility in January that, according to the country's Prime Minister Abdul Malek Sallal, killed more than three dozen hostages.

Due to the remoteness of the region, and the lack of U.S. personnel on the ground, the U.S. is looking at information from a variety of sources, including electronic intercepts such as cell phone conversations. Other information is coming from so-called “human sources,” people in the region who may have specific information, the official said. Over the last few months, the U.S. also has been relying on deepening cooperation with French intelligence, which maintains an extensive signals monitoring effort to intercept phone and internet traffic in the region. In past deaths of high profile terrorists, the U.S. has also monitored jihadi websites looking for postings that may be relevant.

One of the first tasks will be to determine if Belmoktar was at that Mali location at the time of the raid by Chad forces. But as of Sunday, the information available to the U.S. includes both intelligence that supports the claim and that contradicts it. So, the U.S. is still looking for a "preponderance of evidence" one way or the other, he said. The official declined to be named because of the sensitive nature of the information. He did not know if the U.S. military had flown any drones over the area to provide targeting information to Chad forces.

Source
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waltky · Mar 4, 2013

Well, mebbe dey got him, mebbe not...

Islamist commander Abou Zeid's death in Mali 'probable'
4 March 2013 - Abou Zeid's death would be "good news" if confirmed, Adm Guillaud said

The head of France's joint chiefs of staff has said that it is "probable" that Islamist commander Abdelhamid Abou Zeid was killed in fighting in Mali. But he said until a body was found it could not be confirmed and the defence minister said there was no proof. The Chadian army - fighting alongside French forces - has claimed it killed Abou Zeid and fellow militant Mokhtar Belmokhtar in recent fighting. Chad and France are among several countries fighting militants in Mali.

'Principles of Islam'

Confusion continues to surround the fate of both Abou Zeid and Mokhtar Belmokhtar, but Chad's President Idriss Deby appeared on television on Monday evening to insist that both men were dead. It was, he said, "in accordance with the principles of Islam that the remains of these two terrorists have not been put on display". Regarding reports of Belmokhtar's death, Adm Edouard Guillaud told Europe 1 radio that he was "extremely cautious", pointing to reports on jihadist internet forums that he may still be alive.

And French Defence Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said he had no proof of either man's death. "I won't tell you that one or the other is dead because I don't know," he said. Veteran Islamist leader Belmokhtar was behind an attack on a gas plant in Algeria in January in which at least 37 hostages were killed. A jihadist activist denied reports of Belmokhtar's death, stating he was "alive and well and leading the battle", Mauritanian news agency Sahara Media reports. The agency regularly receives statements from Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb. However, the same activist confirmed Abou Zeid's death, saying he was killed in a French bombardment rather a Chadian attack.

The activist said that Belmokhtar was operating around Gao, hundreds of kilometres south of where Chadian troops are engaged in operations. This could be considered credible as he has often been seen in Timbuktu or Gao, the BBC's West Africa correspondent Thomas Fessy reports. On Saturday, a French soldier was killed in the Adrar des Ifoghas mountains in northern Mali, the third French serviceman to die since the start of military intervention in January. The death was in the same region where the Chadian army reported the deaths of Abou Zeid and Belmokhtar.

'Industrial terrorist organisation'
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kiwiman127 · Mar 4, 2013

AmericanFirst said: ↑

Romney might have had a spine like W, instead of being spineless like gore and obamaturd.
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Romney showed his backbone while hanging out in France with a draft deferment during the Vietnam War. But he did demonstrate in favor of the war but used four deferments to avoid serving.
Good post AmericanFirst!

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'Numerous' other bodies at Algeria plant (Drudge: All Hostages Dead)

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'Numerous' other bodies at Algeria plant (Drudge: All Hostages Dead)

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