FINANCIAL TIMES: A top US official has warned of the increasing risks of terrorism and violence in Africa and the Middle East, in a sobering account of the current state of the Bush administration’s “war against terror”.
John Negroponte, deputy US secretary of state, highlighted increased al-Qaeda activity in northern parts of Africa as well as the risk of Iraq violence spreading further across the Middle East.
“I think there’s a concern that al-Qaeda might expand its efforts into the Sahel region [immediately south of the Sahara in Africa]”, he said, citing Chad, Mali and Niger. His comments, in an interview with the Financial Times and other European newspapers, follow a warning from countries such as Morocco that a growing number of terrorist training camps across the Sahel region are drawing in north Africans. Negroponte fears al-Qaeda expansion (more) By Daniel Dombay
Mark Alexander
