Mali's doggone tale of a pup named Kerouac

                                                                                                                      BBC Photo

 

Click. This is one of those stories you don't mean to read because you're searching for something else, but you see the headline, and then suddenly you're at the end and smiling.

Journalist Alex Duval Smith is in Bamako, the capital of Mali, and has been writing on the conflict both in Mali and neighbouring countries, including the wartorn and often overlooked Central African Republic, where as he wrote in a Guardian piece last week about the "seeds of genocide" that may be sown.

And, he has also found time to write a piece for the BBC about the lost-and-found dog, Kerouac. "The runaway mutt, Kerouac, is not even mine. He came into my life - and ran out of it - two months ago. He and his French owner, Stephane, had parked their camper in my street for a week," he writes. "Despite the risk of kidnapping by al-Qaeda, there is still a breed of traveller that defies warnings by various governments to churn through this region in old lorries."

The dog ran off with a pack of hounds. Stephane left Mali in tears. But the cat dog came back. (Nine lives? Aren't there any good dog sayings?) Alex, became the new owner of the "bumptious slobber pot."

Ah, won't give away anymore. Just take a break. Give it a read: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-25777312

 

Michelle Shephard is the Star's National Security correspondent and author of "Decade of Fear: Reporting from Terrorism's Grey Zone." She is a three-time recipient of Canada's National Newspaper Award. Follow her on Twitter @shephardm

Terrorism, expense forms and other bothers

(Courtesy Reuters)

Who doesn't hate expense forms? All that accountability and trying to read ripped and faded receipts from places you can't remember and oh, the currency exchange? Nightmare, right?

Apparently, international terrorist Moktar Belmoktar, the one-eyed Algerian leader nicknamed "Mr. Marlboro" for his cigarette smuggling business, felt the same way. 

Rukmini Callimachi, the West Africa Bureau Chief for The Associated Press, found a 10-page letter in a Timbuktu building once occupied by members of Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM), and wrote this amazing tale about Belomoktar.

It begins:

DAKAR, Senegal (AP) — After years of trying to discipline him, the leaders of Al Qaeda's North African branch sent one final letter to their most difficult employee. In page after scathing page, they described how he didn't answer his phone when they called, failed to turn in his expense reports, ignored meetings and refused time and again to carry out orders.

Most of all, they claimed he had failed to carry out a single spectacular operation, despite the resources at his disposal.

The employee, international terrorist Moktar Belmoktar, responded the way talented employees with bruised egos have in corporations the world over: He quit and formed his own competing group. And within months, he carried out two lethal operations that killed 101 people in all: one of the largest hostage-takings in history at a BP-operated gas plant in Algeria in January, and simultaneous bombings at a military base and a French uranium mine in Niger just last week.

Beyond the fact that apparently AQIM has expense forms, there is some good intelligence in the document, such as the discussion about ransom for kidnapped Canadian diplomats Robert Fowler and Louis Guay.

When the pair was released by AQIM in 2009, after four months of captivity, Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper denied any ransom was paid. Fowler has always said he doesn't know. But the document obtained by The AP claims nearly $1 million was handed over -- a "meagre" sum that Belmoktar negotiated himself. 

In general, the document confirms the importance of the group's kidnapping operations -- approximately $89 million it states. It also explains why Belmoktar broke off relations with AQIM to form his own group, which reportedly led the January attack against an Algerian gas oil facility, with the help of two Canadians.

But let's face it.. it's the expense forms that are most talked about. It's like a perverse US Weekly magazine feature of "Stars Are Just Like Us." (Just in: Pregnant Reese Witherspoon had a tough time balancing her cell phone and grocery store purchases - Ciao Bella gelato squares and Palapa Azul fruit bars. She shops! She has babies! She eats fruit bars!). 

But maybe understanding this strange normalcy of the "corporate" side of the terrorist group is important too. We've had other glimpses into Al Qaeda's operations (and in-fighting) in the documents uncovered in Osama bin Laden's Abbottabad compound, or discovered when the former leader of Al Qaeda in East Africa was killed in Somalia.

We know the group and its franchises have grappled with branding issues and there are even reports that they've had to adhere to the sex sells adage by trying to recruit on porn sites.

Getting inside the group -- even the business side -- may help counter its operations.

So beyond the ridicule, knowing that AQIM has some form of accounting department could help, in, uh, downsizing.

Michelle Shephard is the Toronto Star's National Security correspondent and author of "Decade of Fear: Reporting from Terrorism's Grey Zone." She is a three-time recepient of Canada's National Newspaper Award. Follow her on Twitter @shephardm

TGIF and terrorism's theatre of the absurd

Time for another installment of Terrorism's Theatre of the Absurd:

For gamers: "Muslim Mali," which pits Islamic militants against the French Air Force in Mali is reportedly taking Internet jihadi forums by storm. And hey, it's a win-win, even if you lose, you supposedly get a message that says "Congratulations, you have been martyred." Foreign Policy's National Security Reporter John Hudson tried the game so you don't have to.

What terror roundup is complete without the rantings of one of the most famous American jihadists - Omar Hammami, aka: Abu Amriki. He is the Alabama native who spent a year in Toronto - long enough to fall in love with Tim Hortons - before joining the fight in Somalia. He reportedly communicates through Twitter, although there has been some doubt as to whether it is really him. Lately, his tweets have been about as exciting - and frequent - as the teenager who wants to tell you about the bagel she had at lunch, or when she's off for a mani-pedi.

Don't bother following "him" on Twitter, but watch for analysis by Clint Watts on his blog Selected Wisdom or J.M. Berger at Intelwire. They have the patience to communicate with him and read the tweets. Berger says he is convinced it is Hammami.

Amid all the babble, there are some interesting nuggets of information that may shed light on Somalia's Al Qaeda group, Al Shabab, which Berger and Watts highlight.

Earlier this month, Yemen's Al Qaeda branch released its 10th edition of the English-language "Inspire" magazine. The much-ridiculed publication known as Al Qaeda's Cosmo, follows a similar format from past editions despite a new editorial board, including some self-help hints, such as avoiding getting petrol on yourself when you're torching cars. Now you know.

And for your weekend read, an update to our blog about Yemen's newest museum - to former president Ali Abdullah Saleh, by Saleh. The intrepid Sanaa-based journalist Adam Baron, chewed some khat and got a tour, writing about his adventure and Saleh's "hot pants."

 

Michelle Shephard is the Toronto Star's National Security correspondent and author of "Decade of Fear: Reporting from Terrorism's Grey Zone." She is a three-time recepient of Canada's National Newspaper Award. Follow her on Twitter @shephardm

 

 

How to avoid becoming a drone target: Al Qaeda’s 22 tips

Tip 18 is most entertaining to imagine: "Formation of fake gatherings such as using dolls and statutes to be placed outside false ditches to mislead the enemy."

Al Qaeda . . . setting up a tea party for their dolls in the desert . . .  as drones buzz overhead. Thanks to documents found by fleeing militants in Timbuktu, we now know that Al Qaeda had 22 helpful hints like this on how to avoid becoming a drone target. 

Not all involved teddy bears and Raggedy Ann, as Associated Press journalist Rukmini Callimachi explains from Timbuktu. Islamic militants reportedly bought bundles of $1.40 grass-woven mats to cover their cars as they fled the ancient city, she writes. Guess glass was harder to come by as Tip 3 recommends: "Spreading the reflective pieces of glass on a car or on the roof of the building."

Of course nothing about Mali's conflict or the controversial drone issue is funny. But the tip sheet, apparently left behind in the hasty retreat last month from the French military intervention, does provide some fodder for Terrorism's Theatre of the Absurd.

Recall the salacious details that trickled out selectively after Osama bin Laden was killed - the most feared man in the world was in fact a vainglorious sissy who dyed his beard, downloaded porno and watched reruns of himself while wrapped in a ratty blanket, like a former football star reliving a playoff touchdown.

Or the Somali-based jihadi, Alabama-born Omar Hammami, who sometimes tweets like a 13-year-old girl and confesses to missing Tim Hortons. On Friday, Danger Room's Spencer Ackerman wrote about rumours that Hammami, known as Abu Mansour al-Amriki (the American), plagerized his jihadi raps. Yes, he's a "rapper."

Counterterrorism analysts and journalists (mea culpa) had a field day with Inspire Magazine, the English magazine of Yemen's Al Qaeda branch until a drone attack killed its American Editorial Board. The terrorist's Cosmopolitan provided environmental tips from bin Laden and "Make a Bomb in the Kitchen of your Mom," by Al Qaeda's "chef."

Too glib? Perhaps. But there's a growing school of thought in the counterterrorism field that one of the ways to fight Al Qaeda's narrative and appeal is to ridicule the movement. No one has done this better than Chris Morris in his dark, dark comedy, Four Lions (trailer below). Sadly, there may be a real life "Four Lions gang" according to reports of this Birmingham case: http://metro.co.uk/2013/02/21/birmingham-terror-plot-the-shambolic-planning-of-the-four-lions-gang-3509308/

 

 

Drones, Al Qaeda's counterintelligence methods and the ongoing conflict in Mali are not amusing. Jihadi Raggedy Andy is. 

 

Michelle Shephard is the Toronto Star's National Security correspondent and author of "Decade of Fear: Reporting from Terrorism's Grey Zone." She is a three-time recepient of Canada's National Newspaper Award. Follow her on Twitter @shephardm

 

 

Nigeria's Ansaru

"Al Qaeda" is often used as terrorism shorthand to describe a variety of groups operating throughout Africa - some with direct ties to the organization and its leaders, others that support the group's ideology but operate independently.

Each organization is unique, and sometimes understanding the differences between the groups are as important as understanding the links.

The newest player thrust into the international press this week is Ansaru, a splinter group of the Nigeria-based organization, Boko Haram.

The little-known group claimed responsibility for the abduction of seven foreigners in Nigeria Sunday. They may also have been involved in a separate kidnapping Tuesday, in Cameroon near Nigeria's border, although there are more rumours than facts at this point. Reuters reported Thursday that French, Nigerian and Cameroonian officials denied French media reports that the seven seized family members had already been freed.

For an in-depth look at the distinctions between Boko Haram, Ansaru and Mali's Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM), follow analyst Andrew Lebovich's blog, al Wasat. Jacob Zenn also writes of the groups in the January edition of West Point's Combating Terrorism Center's publication, Sentinel.

Stratfor Global Intelligence notes in their assessment about Ansaru's rise that the groups "appears to have surpassed Boko Haram in its range of tactics and targets."

Michelle Shephard is the Toronto Star's National Security correspondent and author of "Decade of Fear: Reporting from Terrorism's Grey Zone." She is a three-time recepient of Canada's National Newspaper Award. Follow her on Twitter @shephardm

 

Mali mission winding down .. then what?

Bystanders stand by a French APC as a French Puma transport helicopter lands to test the field in the center of Niono, some 400 kms (300 miles) North of Mali's capital, Bamako, on Jan. 20, 2013. JEROME DELAY /ASSOCIATED PRESS

France's Defense Minister, Jean-Yves Drian, told France 2 television Wednesday that French troops will start pulling out of Mali within "a matter of weeks," despite continued clashes with rebels and members of Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM).

This is not unexpected news, although the number of troops leaving Mali is unclear. The New York Times' Steven Erlanger writes in his Tuesday profile of Drian that the minister does not want a repeat of Libya, where a weak regional government was unable to control the chaos that followed the withdrawal of international troops. An excerpt from the Times:

(T)he French are also waiting for European Union military trainers to help restore the broken Malian Army, a mission approved by Brussels only on Monday, and the collapsed state itself must be rebuilt. Part of that process must be a negotiated reconciliation between Bamako and Tuareg nationalists who had sided with the Islamists and must agree to give up their demand for independence in return for an undefined autonomy or federal state.

All this will take many months and require stability, Mr. Le Drian concedes, and while the French express hope that African forces will pursue the Islamists into the mountains and deserts of the vast north, it is highly likely that French special forces will have to continue to operate on their own and alongside the Africans, with the help of American surveillance drones.

As for Canada's involvement - litte is known, aside from the C-17 cargo plane on loan and an undefined special forces mission. As Toronto Star columnist Tom Walkom laments, "Mali is the war no one wants to talk about"   in Ottawa. 

But for those who have followed Mali for years or tracked the fight against Al Qaeda's various franchises elsewhere, the question is not what happens in the next few weeks, or even months, but what's the longterm plan?  

History has taught us that military might alone cannot completely vanquish Al Qaeda's groups. Although each organization is unique, and heavily influenced by domestic conflicts and government corruption, the groups all share one trait - patience.

They are also getting more adept at pooling resources - as witnessed recently in Somalia and Yemen where fighters, weapons and trainers are moving across the Gulf of Aden. This is one of the fears for Mali and the greater Sahel region. But again, stopping this would take a nuanced, long-term approach, which is often complicated by so-called "war on terror" panic, as explained by political analyst Imad Mesdoua in the Guardian, where he writes:

Mali's challenges require a multi-dimensional approach, which looks beyond simplistic interventionist agendas. The real roots of the current crisis have been overshadowed by the dominant "war on terror" narrative presented in the media. Beyond the restoration of order and some form of stability, Mali requires responsible and legitimate leadership capable of negotiating long term political solutions. 

For a different take on what the international role in Mali should be, read Aidan Hartley, the Nairobi-born author and The Spectator's "Wild Life" columnist (if you're unfamiliar with Hartley, take a second to first read Toby Young's very entertaining column about visiting Hartley in his remote Kenya farm house. Think - an African Hunter. S. Thompson - minus the cocaine at breakfast). He suggests Mali, and African nations in general, need less intervention, more investment. He says victory will come the day Kentucky Fried Chicken sets up shop in Timbuktu and Mogadishu.

There is little doubt that if Mali's fundamental problems are not addressed - poverty and resentment in the north, a corrupt and ill-equipped military, and a weak government - AQIM will simply retreat until the time is right to re-emerge.

None of these issues, of course, will be solved in a matter of weeks.

(* For more photos from Mali like the one above, recommend this Time Lightbox photo essay and blog by Jerome Delay, the Africa Chief photographer for the Associated Press, who explains what it's like to cover Mali's "Invisible War" : http://lightbox.time.com/2013/02/19/jerome-delay-photographing-malis-invisible-war/#ixzz2LS493CXt)

 

Michelle Shephard is the Toronto Star's National Security correspondent and author of "Decade of Fear: Reporting from Terrorism's Grey Zone." She is a three-time recepient of Canada's National Newspaper Award. Follow her on Twitter @shephardm

PHOTO: Arrest in Mali

A Malian soldier arrests a man at a checkpoint one day after Islamist gunmen battled French and Malian troops, on Feb. 11 in Gao. (PASCAL GUYOT/AFP/Getty Images)