Mali accuses “Al Qaida of the Maghreb” of having Moroccan support
In his blog "Desde El Atlántico", Carlos Ruíz Miguel elaborates on the growing accusations linking the Moroccan Kingdom to terrorist groups in the Maghreb.
Terrorism is not always what it seems. It is beyond doubt that the term “terrorism” often hides operations that may be performed by groups of individuals, who are manipulated by intelligence services of some states.
Today, once again, the French press accuses Morocco of supporting terrorism of the so-called “Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb.”
It is a fact that terrorism and terrorist groups are often manipulated. But it's more difficult to know who employs terrorism. However, there is an old approach that hardly ever fails: who benefits from this terrorism?
The group called “Al Qaida of the Islamic Maghreb”, as the “Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat” (GSPC) has been repeatedly called since January 2007, stems from the “Armed Islamic Group” (GIA).
It has often been reported that this alleged “Al Qaeda” is a turbulent group that has been manipulated by a state (mainly Morocco). Some may be aware of the testimony of Abdelhak Layada, the founder of GIA, who confirmed that Hassan II supported attacks in Algeria as a retaliation for the support of this country to the Sahrawi cause.
That accusation is echoing. This time in a French magazine specialized in African politics, close to the interests and ideas of the Quai d'Orsay (the French Foreign Ministry), a magazine close to Morocco that usually offers a “pleasant” image of the country: Jeune Afrique.
The issue 2524 of Jeune Afrique (24-30 May 2009), pages 38-39, includes an article on counter-terrorism in Mali by Pierre-François Naudé, Jeune Afrique’s Mali-specialist in Mali. A certain passage stand out: “Another uncertainty, from the Malian point of view, affects the settlement of the Salafist case: the tensions between Algeria and Morocco. ‘It is clear that Islamist groups benefit from some Moroccan support,’ accuses a member of the Malian intelligence services. According to the latter, this would be in response to the numerous links that Mali maintains with POLISARIO.”
Indeed, Mali recognized the Saharawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR) on 4 July, 1980. The existing testimonies lead to the following deductions:
1. Morocco, according to the founder of GIA, supports terrorism in Algeria because the latter supported the Sahrawi cause.
2. Morocco, according to the testimony of a member of the intelligence services in Mali collected by the French magazine of reference in African politics, supported terrorism in Mali because Mali supports the Saharawi cause.
The question is: Does Morocco support or has it supported terrorism in Spain as retaliation to the Spanish support to the Sahrawi cause before Zapatero became the President of the Spanish Government?
Africa's last colonySince 1975, three quarters of the Western Sahara territory has been illegally occupied by Morocco. The original population lives divided between those suffering human rights abuses under the Moroccan occupation and those living in exile in Algerian refugee camps. For more than 40 years, the Saharawi await the fulfilment of their legitimate right to self-determination.
Since 1975, three quarters of the Western Sahara territory has been illegally occupied by Morocco. The original population lives divided between those suffering human rights abuses under the Moroccan occupation and those living in exile in Algerian refugee camps. For more than 40 years, the Saharawi await the fulfilment of their legitimate right to self-determination.
