Al Qaeda's Growing Threat in North and East Africa
By Douglas Farah
As noted recently by the Washington Post's Craig Whitlock, the formal merger of the Algerian-based Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat (GSPC) is an enormously important development of the jihadist plans for northern and western Africa.
As Zawahiri stated in his address last month announcing the formal alliance of the two groups, the GSPC "will be a thorn in the necks of the American and French crusaders and their allies, and a dagger in the hearts of the French traitors and apostates."
This is even more important when combined with the growing f al Qaeda presence and interest in Darfur, the jihadi rallying point to the east. According to folks who have recently spent time in Darfur, the janjaweed, protected and aided by the Sudanese government, are allowing al Qaeda training camps. Bin Laden and Zawahiri have singled out Darfur as a key area of jihadi expansion, along with Somalia and Yemen to the east. My full blog is here.
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