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| Africa Subsaharan |
| Bissau fears al Qaeda retaliation after arrests |
| 2008-01-20 |
| Guinea-Bissau moved on Saturday to bolster security to prevent an al Qaeda retaliation attack in the West African country, which last week extradited five suspected members of the armed Islamist group. Border controls will be tightened, internal security improved with more police patrols and the scrutiny of foreigners will also be stepped up, the government of the small former Portuguese colony said in a statement. The security measures come after one of the al Qaeda suspects extradited to Mauritania on January 12 promised revenge on the country, which is preparing for carnival celebrations in the coastal capital Bissau from February 2. The cabinet statement said an inter-ministerial commission "to prevent a terrorist attack" would include the defence, interior and justice ministers as well as representatives of Guinea-Bissau's military and intelligence services. The al Qaeda suspects were arrested in connection with the killing of four picnicking French tourists in a Christmas Eve attack in southeast Mauritania, which led to the cancellation of this year's Dakar motor sports rally. The attack, and the killing of four soldiers in Mauritania's northeast also claimed by al Qaeda's North African branch, raised fears that the group was extending its operations further south, after attacks in Morocco and Algeria. "I recognise that my country is vulnerable to organised crime but measures have already been taken against a terrorist attack," said Prime Minister Martinho Ndafa Kabi. |
| Posted by:Fred |