Interpol Says Al-Queda is a Growing Threat in Africa

AQMI guerrillas who are fighting in Mali have become the focus of the purported battle against Al-Qaeda in North Africa.
Originally uploaded by Pan-African News Wire File Photos

Al-Queda in Africa a growing threat: Interpol

Thursday, September 30, 2010
4:07 PM ET

Interpol is increasingly worried about Islamist al-Shabab fighters in
Mogadishu, Somalia

Interpol's secretary general says militants in northern Africa and
Somalia will soon be bigger terrorist threats than those based in
Afghanistan.

Ronald K. Noble told The Associated Press that al-Qaeda's North
African branch and Somali Islamists in East Africa "will eclipse
Afghanistan in terms of terror threats in the next five to 10 years."

Speaking in Brussels on the sidelines of a conference on west African
security, Noble said law enforcement was "seeing more and more
terrorist activity originating in Somalia."

Members of Somalia's al-Shabab movement have been of increasing
concern to Western law enforcement agencies, especially after the
group claimed responsibility for attacks that killed 76 people in
Uganda during the World Cup final.

The attacks, the group's first outside Somali territory, were seen by
analysts as an indicator of its international ambitions.

Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb is another growing concern. On
Thursday, the group released its first video of hostages seized two
weeks ago in Niger.

The terrorist group has invaded large swaths of the desert region of
northern Africa spanning portions of Mauritania, Mali, Niger and
Algeria.

Famous tourists spots such as Timbuktu, in Mali, are now on the no-go
list of numerous foreign embassies, including the U.S. and France.

Interpol is an organization that links law enforcement agencies in 188
countries to help cross-border policing efforts to tackle major crime.

Read more: http://www.cbc.ca/world/story/2010/09/30/al-queda-in-africa-930.html#ixzz1132yCJZp