West faces ‘decades’ of conflict in N Africa

[WestVirginiaRebel]

Financial TImes:

David Cameron has raised the spectre of Britain being sucked into the fight against terrorists in north Africa for “decades” after the Algerian hostage crisis ended with more than 20 dead.

The UK prime minister said on Sunday that the growing threat of Islamist militants in the Sahel region of Africa required “a response that is about years, even decades, rather than months”.

He compared the situation with that in Afghanistan, saying: “What we face is an extremist, Islamist, violent al-Qaeda-linked terrorist group, just as we had to deal with in Pakistan and Afghanistan.”

British officials said the government’s response to threats in countries such as Algeria and Mali, where the UK is supporting French efforts to expel Islamist rebels, would mainly focus on attempts to strengthen governments and promote dialogue. But they added that British troops could be forced to take direct action against the growing threat of Islamist militants.

Algerian officials warned that the initial casualty figure of 23 hostages and 32 militants was likely to rise while local newspapers quoting unnamed security forces said up to 30 bodies have been found at the sprawling gas complex which was being combed for explosives.

Ten Japanese and five Norwegians were among those unaccounted for at the plant, which is operated by the UK’s BP, Statoil of Norway and Algeria’s Sonatrach.

The first British fatality has been named by the Foreign Office as Paul Thomas Morgan, aged 46. It was unclear which company Mr Morgan had been working for.

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The long war in Africa.

[Valin]

@WestVirginiaRebel

 

French troops face complicated military landscape in Mali

Sudarsan Raghavan and Edward Cody

 

DIABALY, Mali — When France entered the world’s newest war against terrorism, French officials boldly declared that the ragtag radical Islamists they planned to oust from northern Mali would scatter in the face of a modern fighting force.

 

But two weeks later, reality has sunk in. Even as they bombard Islamist targets, the French troops are facing a military landscape that is far more complicated than it appeared at the outset, raising questions about France’s long-term goals.

 

With no clear exit strategy, the French are encountering a host of problems: Mali’s interim government is weak, its military is disorganized, and a long-promised African intervention force is far from ready. Even as French troops worry about killing civilians, it is unclear who the civilians are and where their sympathies lie. Ethnic, religious and regional rivalries, as well as old and unsettled vendettas, also are posing obstacles.

 

(Snip)