AQIM and the Austrian hostages in Africa
By Olivier Guitta
I just wrote an article for the Middle East Times regarding Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb's (AQIM) new strategy.
For an extensive coverage of AQIM, please visit The Croissant (available to subscribers only).
To read the full article, please click here.
Here is an excerpt:
Al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb - or AQIM - kidnapped two Austrian citizens in Tunisia on Feb. 22. The hostages are reportedly being held in northern Mali and Austrian authorities, with the help of Libya, are trying hard to obtain the release of their citizens.
This latest action from AQIM should not come as a surprise, for several reasons.
First, AQIM has made no secret that targeting foreign nationals has become one of their priorities. In Algeria, AQIM recently targeted U.S. and Russian contractors, and the U.N. compound in Algiers, while Western nations have warned their citizens of the risks associated with remaining in the country. AQIM also recently almost succeeded in kidnapping two French executives. After this incident, a number of French nationals (mostly women and children) left Algeria to return to safer grounds. The idea behind this strategy is to kill the tourism industry and dry out foreign investment in the region.
Second, AQIM has a tradition of self-financing its operations mostly through kidnappings, racketeering and smuggling of all kinds. Interestingly enough, the kidnapping of the two Austrian tourists mirrors the operation led by the Algerian GSPC (the Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat), now AQIM, in 2003 under the command of Abdel Rezak al-Para.
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