The roster is beginning to look like a United Colors of Benneton catalogue. How many others will be found to have their roots in a non-Muslim country? The final body count should tell us.
From the Daily Mail January 20 by Peter Allen and Nabila Ramdani
Who was the white jihadi? Algerian forces find 'two Canadians and at least one Frenchman' among bodies of gas plant gunmen
The storming of the BP gas plant in Algeria and murder of dozens of hostages was orchestrated by a Canadian, it emerged yesterday.
Documents found on the bodies of two terrorists – one a ringleader – identified them as Canadians and Western intelligence agencies were checking last night whether either was ‘known’ to them.
Survivors have told how at least one of the kidnappers spoke perfect English in giving them orders.
Both Canadians entered Algeria from Libya with members of the ‘Blood Battalion’ led by Mokhtar Belmokhtar.
Their cars were painted in the colours of the Algerian state energy firm, Sonatrach.
Only part of one of the men’s names – ‘Chedad,’ which is Moroccan – was released yesterday but British investigators were seeking to establish whether either Canadian had spent time in Britain or had UK links.
The development raises fears that the Arab Spring has been a rallying call for extremists. Hundreds of Britons and Westerners joined the fighting in the Middle East and North Africa and some may have subsequently joined violent groups abroad or terror gangs back home.
Significantly, a Briton who is believed to be an Islamic convert in his late 20s with blond hair and blue eyes is said to have joined one-eyed Belmokhtar’s group last year. He is reported to have visited wounded jihadists at a hospital in south-east Mali.And a second British jihadist linked to the terror leader is said to be a Londoner, who was captured by the Mauritanian authorities last month trying to cross into Mali.
Investigators say the men are part of a ‘small but increasing and significant’ number of Britons or foreign nationals living in the UK and travelling to join extremist groups with loose associations to Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb.
It is thought Britons and other Europeans may have attended terror camps in the Sahel region to the south of the Sahara.
The Canadian link has long been feared, according to David Harris of the terrorist intelligence programme at Insignis Strategic Research in Ottawa.
He said the country’s open borders and dual language made it attractive to French-speaking immigrants from North Africa. French anti-terrorism magistrate Jean-Louis Bruguière has called Montreal a hub of North African terrorism.
From the Daily Mail January 20 by Peter Allen and Nabila Ramdani
Who was the white jihadi? Algerian forces find 'two Canadians and at least one Frenchman' among bodies of gas plant gunmen
The storming of the BP gas plant in Algeria and murder of dozens of hostages was orchestrated by a Canadian, it emerged yesterday.
Documents found on the bodies of two terrorists – one a ringleader – identified them as Canadians and Western intelligence agencies were checking last night whether either was ‘known’ to them.
Survivors have told how at least one of the kidnappers spoke perfect English in giving them orders.
Both Canadians entered Algeria from Libya with members of the ‘Blood Battalion’ led by Mokhtar Belmokhtar.
Their cars were painted in the colours of the Algerian state energy firm, Sonatrach.
Only part of one of the men’s names – ‘Chedad,’ which is Moroccan – was released yesterday but British investigators were seeking to establish whether either Canadian had spent time in Britain or had UK links.
The development raises fears that the Arab Spring has been a rallying call for extremists. Hundreds of Britons and Westerners joined the fighting in the Middle East and North Africa and some may have subsequently joined violent groups abroad or terror gangs back home.
Significantly, a Briton who is believed to be an Islamic convert in his late 20s with blond hair and blue eyes is said to have joined one-eyed Belmokhtar’s group last year. He is reported to have visited wounded jihadists at a hospital in south-east Mali.And a second British jihadist linked to the terror leader is said to be a Londoner, who was captured by the Mauritanian authorities last month trying to cross into Mali.
Investigators say the men are part of a ‘small but increasing and significant’ number of Britons or foreign nationals living in the UK and travelling to join extremist groups with loose associations to Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb.
It is thought Britons and other Europeans may have attended terror camps in the Sahel region to the south of the Sahara.
The Canadian link has long been feared, according to David Harris of the terrorist intelligence programme at Insignis Strategic Research in Ottawa.
He said the country’s open borders and dual language made it attractive to French-speaking immigrants from North Africa. French anti-terrorism magistrate Jean-Louis Bruguière has called Montreal a hub of North African terrorism.
Read it all
No comments:
Post a Comment