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Source: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204791104577108210502981798.html
The Terrorists in Europe's Backyard
(Wall Street Journal Europe) Avi Jorisch - Europe's security is being threatened by a terrorist organization that many people have never heard of. Last week, al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM), based in north Africa and active since 2002, posted pictures of five Europeans kidnapped in November and currently being held in Mali. Formerly known as the Salafi Group for Preaching and Combat, AQIM is an al-Qaeda affiliate whose principal aim is to overthrow the Algerian government and establish an Islamic state governed by Shariah law in north Africa, Spain and Portugal. AQIM regularly funds its operations through criminal activity in Europe and the kidnapping of Western tourists and aid workers in north Africa, and is now in possession of weapons galore from the fallen Gaddafi regime. It is also actively involved in courting north African immigrant communities in the West. The writer, a former U.S. Treasury Department official, is senior fellow for counterterrorism at the American Foreign Policy Council in Washington.