A suspected leader of the radical Islamic group that took 32 Europeans hostage in Algeria's vast Sahara desert last year has been arrested in Chad, German federal prosecutors said. Ammari Saifi, known as Abderrezak "the Para", was arrested along with one other person, the federal prosecutor's office in the western city of Karlsruhe said in a statement. "The prosecutor's office has received information that 'the Para' was taken prisoner in Chad along with one other person," said spokeswoman Frauke-Kathrin Scheuten, adding that "the circumstances still have to be clarified."
A diplomatic source in Mali said the group holding Saifi was either the Movement for Democracy and Justice in Chad (MDJT), a rebel group based in the north of the country, or a breakaway organisation. "It is becoming clearer and clearer that for several weeks Abderrezak has been held by an armed group which could well be the MDJT," said an African diplomat in Mali, who asked not to be named. "His movements are restricted. And this armed group would do the fight against terrorism a real service by handing him over to the appropriate people."
| Or by lopping his head off and handing that over... |
In March a Chadian military source said that government troops had killed 43 members of the GSPC close to the border with Niger. He alleged that the GSPC had infiltrated the country and was trying to join forces with the MDJT. "For the time being all the signs, descriptions and evidence provided confirm that 'the Para' is indeed the prisoner of an armed group in Chad," a source working for a foreign security agency in Bamako said. "Two African countries closely involved in counter-terrorism have this information." He said Abderrezak had been formally identified. |