Vital Perspective

Report: al-Qaeda Aiming Towards Formation of Pan-Meghreb Terror Structure

Stratfor has released a breaking intelligence report indicating that GSPC, which recently swore allegiance to al-Qaeda, has been instructed to form a unified command with Morocco's Islamic Combatant Group, Libya's Islamic Fighting Group and several Tunisian groups, most notably the Tunisian Combatant Group. The new organization reportedly will be called The Union of the Arab Maghreb. Spanish newspaper El Periodico cited Spanish anti-terrorism intelligence sources in their report of this intelligence, who said the information regarding the creation of the new unified network was derived from a plan Moroccan police discovered in one of several raids over the summer.

The al-Qaeda concept of creating a unified group of "Qaedat al-Jihad in the Arab Maghreb Countries" is not new. Moroccan authorities discovered plans for such a union in late 2005, when raids targeting several suspected militants turned up messages sent by leaders in the region to Osama bin Laden. In those messages, leaders reportedly discussed a plan for the GSPC to officially join al-Qaeda and then unite jihadists in the Maghreb countries -- in many ways conforming to the pattern established by Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, who united jihadists in Jordan and Iraq. Significantly, the GSPC effort would also strive to unite North African militants living in Europe into a cohesive paramilitary entity.

El Periodico's report would seem to confirm that plans for the pan-Maghreb merger have proceeded. Other signs of traction came from Ayman al-Zawahiri, who said in a September 11, 2006, message that GSPC had joined forces with al-Qaeda in a union he hoped would be "a thorn in the neck of the American and French Crusaders and their allies, and an arrow in the heart of the French traitors and apostates." Al-Zawahiri went on to say, "We ask Allah to help our brothers of the GSPC to hit the foundations of the Crusader alliance, primarily their old leader the infidel United States, praise be on Allah." On September 13, GSPC acknowledged the merger on its Web site with a message from its emir, Abu Musab Abd al-Wadoud, who wrote that, "We have full confidence in the faith, the doctrine, the method and the modes of action of [al-Qaeda's] members, as well as their leaders and religious guides."

Understanding 5,000 Years of Imperial History in the Middle East in 90 Seconds

Here's something interesting we found over at Evangelical Outpost. Ever wondered who has controlled the Middle East over the course of history? This great animation takes you through the last 5,000 years in just 90 seconds.

Algerian Authorities Arrest Terrorist Recruiter for GSPC, al-Qaeda in Iraq

Algerian authorities have arrested an alleged Islamist, suspected of having ties to al-Qaeda and accused of recruiting fighters for Iraq, the Arab-language daily El Khabar reported yesterday. The man, whose name was not disclosed, is also accused of helping foreign Islamists join the ranks of Algeria's extremist Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat (GSPC).

According to El Khabar, the man allegedly served an intermediary between al-Qaeda and Islamists from Arab countries. He is believed to have headed a Syrian-based organisation offering safety to Arabs volunteering to fight in Iraq.

The suspect was allegedly in permanent contact with an accomplice in Algiers who served as middleman with armed Algerian Islamists who wanted to join the insurgency in Iraq. He is also suspected of being tasked by al-Qaeda to help a group of armed Tunisian Islamists join the GSPC's ranks, where they would be trained to use weapons and explosives. The Tunisian Islamists allegedly then planned to return to Tunisia to "open a new war front against the Tunisian regime," the report added.

UN Human Rights Council to Meet on 'Gross Human Rights Violations by Israel'

Late yesterday, we'd heard that the Tunisian government, which chairs the group of Arab States, had requested a special session of the new UN Human Rights Council to "consider and take action on the gross human rights violations by Israel in Lebanon, including the Qana massacre, county-wide targeting of innocent civilians, and destruction of vital civilian infrastructure."

We've now been able to confirm that the request has been made, and that the session is in the logistical planning stages. The countries signing on to the Tunisian request were Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Algeria, Morocco, Jordan, Bangladesh, Indonesia, Malaysia, Senegal, Pakistan, China, Russia, Cuba, South Africa and Azerbaijan.