New Counterterrorism Report Warns of Rising al-Qaeda Threat in N. Africa;Calls Resolving W. Sahara Conflict Key for Regional Cooperation to Fight Back

/PRNewswire/ -- Just days after President Barack Obama underscored in his State of the Union address America's commitment to "take the fight to al-Qaeda," a new counterterrorism report was issued today documenting a dramatic 558 percent jump in terrorist attacks and activity by al-Qaeda and other terrorist groups in North and West/Central Africa since 9/11.

The report was released at the 11th annual terrorism review and outlook seminar of the International Center for Terrorism Studies at the Potomac Institute for Policy Studies, hosted this morning by the Brookings Institution. The event brought together a panel of former CIA, US State Department and Department of Homeland Security officials, as well as international experts, to examine the growing threat and changing face of international terrorism.

The panel was unanimous in identifying al-Qaeda as the most serious terrorist threat to the US, evidenced by the recent failed Christmas suicide bombing attempt on Northwest flight 253 over Detroit organized by al-Qaeda forces in Yemen. "Al-Qaeda remains dangerous, though damaged" by recent US strikes against it in Pakistan, said Charles Allen, Undersecretary for Intelligence, US Department of Homeland Security. The new development, the panel agreed, is that al-Qaeda's regional affiliates continue to pose a serious threat even as its core leadership in Pakistan and Afghanistan has come under siege.

The new report, authored by Professor Yonah Alexander, Director of the International Center for Terrorism Studies, highlights the growing danger posed by al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb. "If we truly want to take the fight to al-Qaeda, we must go everywhere they pose a serious threat," said Prof. Alexander. "A comprehensive US counterterrorism strategy must address the increasingly volatile terrorist breeding ground in North and West/Central Africa, where al-Qaeda and other terrorists are exploiting weak regional security cooperation and links to narco-trafficking networks in Latin America to recruit and train terrorists to carry out attacks in the region and elsewhere."

The special report "Maghreb & Sahel Terrorism: Addressing the Rising Threat from al-Qaeda & other Terrorists in North & West/Central Africa," was published by the International Center for Terrorism Studies at the Potomac Institute for Policy Studies. It analyzes and provides a timeline for how al-Qaeda and other terrorist organizations have taken root and flourished in the region since 9/11.

As a key step to combat terrorism, the report recommends resolving the more than 30-year-old Western Sahara conflict, which is a major obstacle to regional security and economic cooperation. Alexander noted today that "the Tindouf camps in Algeria, where refugees have been confined for decades without hope, present a prime breeding ground for potential recruits by the terrorists." The report outlines a number of other recommendations, including: strengthening US intelligence in the region; expanding US counterterrorism technical assistance to Maghreb/Sahel countries; and raising diplomatic, economic, political, and military costs to Iran to discourage its support of jihadist terrorism in the region.

The Moroccan American Center for Policy (MACP) is a non-profit organization whose principal mission is to inform opinion makers, government officials and interested publics in the United States about political and social developments in Morocco and the role being played by the Kingdom of Morocco in broader strategic developments in North Africa, the Mediterranean, and the Middle East. For more, please visit www.moroccanamericanpolicy.org

This material is distributed by the Moroccan American Center for Policy on behalf of the Government of Morocco. Additional information is available at the Department of Justice in Washington, DC.

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U.S. Praises Morocco's 'Comprehensive Counterterrorism Approach' and 'International Cooperation' to Combat Rising al-Qaeda Threat in Sahara

/PRNewswire / -- The following is being released by the Moroccan American Center for Policy:

Yesterday, the U.S. State Department praised the Kingdom of Morocco's "comprehensive counterterrorism approach" as it works with the U.S. and its regional and international partners to combat the growing transnational threat from al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) and other terrorist groups.

"The Government of Morocco, and frequently the King himself, regularly and strongly condemned terrorist acts, wherever they occurred," said the annual report to Congress submitted by the State Dept.'s Office of the Coordinator for Counterterrorism. "The Moroccan government pursued a comprehensive counterterrorism approach that, building on popular rejection of terrorism, emphasizes neutralizing existing terrorist cells through traditional law enforcement and preemptive security measures, and prevented terrorist recruitment through comprehensive counter-radicalization policies."

The report detailed the success Morocco has seen from its multi-faceted strategy and social reforms to combat terrorism, which goes far beyond "traditional security measures." Specifically, the report highlighted Morocco's $1.2 billion National Human Development Initiative "aimed at ameliorating the socio-economic factors that terrorists exploit" as well as the official sanction of mourchidates, or female spiritual guides, whose role is to promote moderation and religious tolerance in mosques across the Kingdom and in Moroccan immigrant communities abroad.

The report also stressed that a key to Morocco's counterterrorism efforts has been "its emphasis on international cooperation" which has helped Moroccan authorities "disrupt plots to attack Moroccan, U.S. and other Western-affiliated targets, and aggressively investigat[e] numerous individuals associated with international terrorist groups."

"For more than 220 years, Morocco and the United States have continuously worked together to combat security threats to both countries - from piracy on the high seas in the late 1700's to today's increasing terrorist challenge in the Sahara and elsewhere," said Robert M. Holley, executive director of the Moroccan American Center for Policy. "The U.S. and Morocco must work even more closely with its international partners on these critical issues to protect and advance the lives of millions in North Africa, as well as the broader international community."

Yesterday's State Department report underscores many of the same concerns raised in recent weeks by 233 Members of Congress in a letter to President Barack Obama, which states that "[v]ital U.S. interests in North Africa are increasingly challenged by growing regional instability." The Members - representing a bipartisan majority of the House of Representatives as well as the highest ranking members of the Democratic and Republican leadership - called on President Obama to strengthen U.S. support for Morocco's compromise autonomy proposal to peacefully resolve the Western Sahara conflict, which they consider to be the "single greatest obstacle impeding the security cooperation necessary to combat this transnational threat."

In March, a special report, "Why the Maghreb Matters," released by the Potomac Institute for Policy Studies and the Conflict Management Program at Johns Hopkins University, presented the recommendations of a distinguished panel including former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, Ret. General Wesley Clark and former Ambassador Stuart Eizenstat. The panel noted the 400% spike in terrorist attacks in the region since 9/11 and advocated increased U.S. engagement with Morocco and other North Africa nations to protect American security interests and to thwart a growing peril from al-Qaeda terrorists in the Sahara.

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