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| Africa North |
| Tunisians warm to Italian call to confront al-Qaeda |
| 2010-01-22 |
| [Maghrebia] Tunisian terrorism experts and lawmakers hailed Italian Foreign Minister Franco Frattini's recent call for more Europe-Maghreb co-operation to halt al-Qaeda's expansion in North Africa. "I do not want to one day see a consolidated al-Qaeda network span from Yemen and Somalia to Mauritania," Frattini said while visiting Tunis, the Algerian daily Liberté reported on Monday (January 18th). "This would be the failure of efforts by the international community to combat this scourge." One member of Tunisia's Parliament, Adel Chaouch, said Frattini's call for "indispensable and unavoidable" co-operation across the Mediterranean "is not new to the region, but re-launching it now confirms that the dangers of al-Qaeda's expansion in the region have become even greater". "Europe's renewed interest in the southern coast of the Mediterranean has been very important ever since its leaders noted that they were no longer safe from terrorism, especially given that Italy isn't very far away ... from the Maghreb", Chaouch, who is a member of the opposition Ettajdid Movement, told Magharebia on Tuesday. Frattini, whose recent tour of Africa also embraced Egypt, Mauritania, Mali, Ethiopia, Kenya and Uganda, told the press during his Tunis visit that "co-operation against terrorism is still a vital and essential task that can't be postponed for all countries in North Africa, as well as the EU". Last week, the Italian Foreign Ministry announced that al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb "is the group detaining the two Italian hostages who were kidnapped December 19th in eastern Mauritania". "The call made by Frattini is not new, because the EU has been trying for years to find a formula of co-operation with the Maghreb countries to put an end to illegal immigration and combat terrorism," Slaheddine Jourchi, an expert in Islamic extremist groups, told Magharebia in a statement received on Tuesday. "The re-launch of the call by the Italian official confirms that the indicators that have been recently seen emphasise that al-Qaeda has resumed its activities in the Maghreb region," added the expert. "This conforms to what the Western intelligence agencies have confirmed, to the effect that al-Qaeda has recovered its vitality ... and managed to recruit new elements". Jourchi claimed it was now possible to see al-Qaeda's "geographical expansion linking Yemen and Somalia to the Sahara". Political analyst Morsel Kesibi told Magharebia on Tuesday that "the issues of terrorism and fighting it are still vital for all world countries, given that stability and peace are prerequisites for realising development and well-being for all peoples all over the world". |
| Posted by:Fred |
| #1 NEWS KERALA: OVER ONE HUNDRD ILLEGAL KURDISH IMMIGRANTS WASH UP ON CORSICA [Childhood-Family Home of NAPOLEON BONAPARTE = EMPEROR NAPOLEON 1]. Muslims turning illegal Asian migres' wid dem "one-way" boats??? |
| Posted by: JosephMendiola 2010-01-22 22:04 |