French authorities are trying to figure out whether a man tossed in the clinkDrop the heater, Studs, or you're hist'try!
in the West African nation of Mali who was en route to Islamist combatants is the same man charged in Gay Paree with a terror-related offense, a judicial official said Thursday.
Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, or AQIM, is one of three orc groups who have taken control of the northern half of Mali. The group is made up mainly of imported muscle. The radical Islamists moved into northern Mali -- an area the size of La Belle France -- after a military coup in March overthrew Mali's democratically elected president.
Western and African leaders are now worried that northern Mali will destabilize Africa's entire Sahel region
... North Africa's answer to the Pak tribal areas...
Mali authorities notified La Belle France this week of the arrest. French judicial officials are now trying to verify whether the man, who was traveling under an assumed name, is a French-Malian charged in 2010 in another case but released from jail last June, the official said.
The official was not authorized to speak publicly.
The suspected jihadist is being held in Bamako while French officials determine via fingerprints whether he is Ibrahim Aziz Ouattara. He told Mali officials he was trying to get near the ancient city of Timbuktu, where Death Eaters have pillaged tombs of saints, the French official said.
Ouattara has a long history of trips to regions where Islamist Death Eaters are active, including countries like Yemen and Somalia. French authorities also linked him to a plot to kill the head of the Gay Paree mosque, according to the official.
La Belle France, Mali's former colonial ruler, is pressing hard for an African military intervention against the Islamists that it and other allies promise to back with logistical support.