Zawaya

Maghreb countries need to work together in fighting terrorism

By: Jemal Mohamed Oumar

There is no doubt that Algeria’s initiative to get a resolution from the summit of the African Union Heads of State – that took place in the city of Sirte in Libya – was very important. The resolution is about preventing the payment of ransoms to Salafist groups in exchange for the release of hostages, and had been voted unanimously by the leaders of the African Union composed of 53 members that participated in the 13th summit at the beginning of July.

This step comes in the framework of drying up the springs on which those groups depend as main economic sources, especially the one located in the Arab Maghreb known as al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, and which operate in the area known as the Great Sahara linking Algeria, Mauritania, Mali and Niger. This region is barren and rocky, making it appropriate for the kidnapping operations performed by armed groups, be it armed Jihadists or the Tuaregs living in the region. The hardness of the region and its drought require financial resources for the logistics of these armed groups, such as fuel, maintenance of equipment, the purchase of weapons and even bribing local municipalities that provide them with coverage. In most cases, the kidnapping is the first objective that the terrorists attempt to achieve, then they resort to murder after failing to kidnap the victim.

On the other hand, some specialists on armed terrorist groups believe that the obligation of the Arab Maghreb countries to join Algeria in its campaign must take into account the specificity of the relationship between each country and the armed groups. Algeria has adopted this idea from its own experience of long-dated dealing with armed terrorists, and it also has a deterrent military force that enables it to replace the payment of ransoms by entering into armed confrontations that it can win, in addition to its strategic alliances with some countries such as the USA. The same applies to the Kingdom of Morocco and Libya, to varying degrees, while the terrorist operations in Mauritania are mainly some kind of a reaction in most cases; reactions against arresting Salafis or torturing them in prison, or even against exercising maneuvers with some countries that adopt the slogan of fighting terrorism and market it to the public. The alliances of Mauritania with some countries and its combing of its borders with Algeria, led to the incident of Lemghayti in 2005, the murder of French nationals in Aleg, the murder of Mauritanian soldiers in Terrin, and finally the murder of the American Christopher after failing to kidnap him a month ago. The same applies to Mali that had been immune from Salafi attacks and hostage-taking until recently. Moreover, there is the inability of these countries to engage in armed confrontations.

However, preventing the payment of ransoms remains the best option, but the Maghreb countries should cooperate and coordinate with each other prior to the announcement of any step in the fight against terrorism.