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| Africa North |
| France's Sarkozy says will punish Qaeda killers |
| 2010-07-27 |
| [Al Arabiya Latest] President Nicolas Sarkozy vowed on Monday to punish al Qaeda's north African wing after confirming the death of a 78-year-old French hostage kidnapped in Niger. Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) said on Sunday it had killed Michel Germaneau in response to a raid by France and Mauritania against the group last week. French commandos, acting with Mauritanian troops, had tried to free Germaneau, a retired engineer kidnapped on April 20, but had not found him when they raided a desert al-Qaeda camp in Mali, Sarkozy said. "Convinced that he was condemned to a certain death, it was our duty to try to save him from his captors. Unfortunately Michel Germaneau was not there," Sarkozy said in a live televised statement. "Far from weakening our determination, his death must reinforce it," the president said. He urged French citizens to avoid travel to the Sahel region and vowed: "This crime will not go unpunished." Sarkozy said France had received no sign since May that Germaneau was alive, and had intervened after AQIM threatened on July 11 to kill him within two weeks unless Paris arranged a prisoner exchange. Spain, which also has two hostages held by another al-Qaeda faction in the region, condemned the killing of Germaneau and said it would continue with efforts to free its citizens. "The Spanish government wants to transmit to the French government its full solidarity and support in the face of this brutal crime," Spanish Foreign Minister Miguel Angel Moratinos said in a statement. Spread Fear Security analysts said the group would use the raid as an excuse to target French interests in the region, though probably not on French soil. "Looking at the way al-Qaeda made the threat, I think they will try and take further revenge against French interests, in other words do something in addition to having killed the French hostage," said Camille Tawil, an author and expert on north African militant groups. "They don't have the capability to do something in France. If they had it, they would not have hesitated to act. They would be more likely to act against French interests in Africa," he said. Domestically, the failed raid seemed unlikely to dent Sarkozy's standing, although the Socialist mayor of Germaneau's hometown, Olivier Thomas, questioned the use of force, saying the French tradition was to negotiate hostages' freedom. Paris negotiated the release of another hostage, Pierre Camatte, who was released in February after Mali agreed to free four Islamist prisoners it was holding. Defence Minister Herve Morin, justified the government's decision to participate in the raid saying AQIM had no intention to negotiate. "We are facing a group that is completely determined in pursuing a holy war and had refused all direct or indirect means to initiate any dialogue with us," Morin told public radio France Inter. Islamists in the Sahara have so far not staged any large-scale attacks, and experts say they have concentrated largely on collecting revenues from ransom payments and the smuggling of goods, including cocaine. But, fearing these groups could become too powerful in vast desert zones governments have little sway over, Western nations led by France and the United States have stepped up involvement in the region and are seeking to forge better coordination. Noman Benotman, a Libyan analyst based in Britain who is a former associate of Osama bin Laden, said AQIM will do its utmost to inflict further punishment on France. "They will want to send a message of being tough, of spreading fear," Banotman said. The same AQIM wing killed British captive Edwin Dyer last year after Britain refused to give in to its demands. Sarkozy said he was sending Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner to Mali, Niger and Mauritania from Monday evening to discuss increased security measures for French nationals in the region. |
| Posted by:Fred |
| #4 You guys are a bit off in your estimation of France's determination and effectiveness in counterterrorism. In reality, the French state has far more power, and uses it more effectively, than we do when it comes to cracking down on internal threats. Here's a profile of their leading anti-terror magistrate, Jean-Louis Bruguiere, who "under French law is granted great prosecutorial powers, including the ability to sign search warrants, order wiretaps and interrogate suspects." France has embraced a law enforcement strategy that relies heavily on preemptive arrests, ethnic profiling and an efficient domestic intelligence-gathering network. French anti-terrorism prosecutors and investigators are among the most powerful in Europe, backed by laws that allow them to interrogate suspects for days without interference from defense attorneys. ...Despite the political discord over Iraq, France's intelligence and counterterrorism officials say they work closely with their American counterparts on terrorism investigations. With the largest Muslim population in Europe, France is being closely watched in neighboring countries, many of which are tightening their own anti-terror and immigration laws. But even following the Sept. 11 attacks and the March 11 bombings of commuter trains in Madrid, other European countries have been reluctant to fully embrace the French model, part of a legal tradition from the Napoleonic era that has always given prosecutors strong powers.... Many of the anti-terror laws and policies in France date to 1986, when the country was grappling with Palestinian and European extremist groups. Since then, the government has modified and expanded those laws several times, gradually giving authorities expanded powers to deport and detain people. 'High Pressure Zones' Terrorism is "a very new and unprecedented belligerence, a new form of war and we should be flexible in how we fight it," said Jean-Louis Bruguiere, a senior French anti-terrorism judge. "When you have your enemy in your own territory, whether in Europe or in North America, you can't use military forces because it would be inappropriate and contrary to the law. So you have to use new forces, new weapons." At times, French authorities have pursued terrorism cases outside their borders, taking over investigations from countries unwilling or unable to arrest suspects on their own.... Over the past decade, Bruguiere has ordered the arrests of more than 500 people on suspicion of "conspiracy in relation to terrorism," a broad charge that gives him leeway to lock up suspects while he carries out investigations. "There is no equivalent anywhere else in Europe. This provision is very, very efficient for judicial rule in tackling terrorist support networks," Bruguiere said in an interview. "Fighting terrorism is like the weather. You have high pressure zones and low pressure zones. Countries that have low pressure zones" attract terrorism. |
| Posted by: lex 2010-07-27 12:59 |
| #3 I would like to point out that why negotiations were on the way, the French were also attempting to find where the hostages were being held and raided a camp when the obvious became obvious. The French government, at least in public, has been taking a fine stance recently IMHO, and are hopefully backing up the tough actions behind the scenes. |
| Posted by: swksvolFF 2010-07-27 10:52 |
| #2 Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) said on Sunday it had killed Michel Germaneau in response to a raid by France and Mauritania against the group last week. The brave |
| Posted by: JohnQC 2010-07-27 09:27 |
| #1 Olivier Thomas, questioned the use of force, saying the French tradition was to negotiate hostages' freedom. The French tradition is immediate surrender. "Negotiate", used here, is a synonym. |
| Posted by: Swanimote 2010-07-27 07:37 |