Originally posted by the Voice of America.
Voice of America content is produced by the Voice of America,
a United States federal government-sponsored entity, and is in
the public domain.


                     Libya Fears Influx of Mali Insurgents

   by Jamie Dettmer

   With French-backed government forces advancing in northern Mali after
   seizing the Islamist rebel strongholds of Timbuktu and Gao, leaders in
   neighboring Libya are raising the alarm, warning of a spillover that
   could see rebel Tuareg and al-Qaeda-linked fighters fleeing into Libyan
   territory.

   A mass exodus of Malian rebels would pose a severe challenge for
   Libya's new rulers. They are already struggling to contain security
   problems of their own, including Islamist-related violence in the
   country's second city of Benghazi, which has gone through a series of
   bombings and assassinations in recent weeks.

   Last week's attack on a natural gas plant in Algeria - mounted by
   al-Qaida militants opposed to the French intervention in Mali - has
   heightened fears in North African and Western capitals of more attacks
   by jihadists on energy facilities in Mali's neighbors.

   "We know that if the situation in Mali deteriorates, it will have
   serious consequences for Libya," says Foreign Minister Mohammed
   Abdulaziz.

   One factor in the Mali insurgency was the influx of hardened fighters
   from Libya after the downfall of Colonel Moammar Gadhafi. These
   fighters brought with them weapons plundered from unsecured Libyan
   arsenals in the weeks and months following Gadhafi's downfall, say
   regional security experts.

   Libyan weapons
   Last November, Mokhtar Belmokhtar, the jihadist mastermind behind the
   attack on the Ain Amenas gas plant in Algeria, bragged to a Mauritanian
   news website that al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) looted Libyan
   weapons during the eight-month-long uprising.

   ''During an African Union summit in Ethiopia last week, Libyan Foreign
   Minister Abdulaziz talked with his counterparts from neighboring
   countries about how to cope with any spillover from Mali. One idea they
   discussed was urging the United Nations to deploy a peacekeeping force
   in northern Mali once the French intervention had concluded.

   "Our vision is that when the operation ends, the Security Council
   should consider deploying a limited peacekeeping force in the area,"
   said Abdulaziz.

   ''During the Libyan civil war, Tuaregs - mostly from Mali - served in
   Gaddafi's military and security agencies and were among the most
   dependable troops fighting against the NATO-supported rebellion. After
   Gadhafi's fall, thousands of them fled to make common cause with Tuareg
   separatists in Mali, subsequently forming an alliance with al-Qaida in
   the Islamic Maghreb.

   Tuareg fighters
   The return of an estimated 2,000 to 4,000 experienced and well-armed
   Tuaregs strengthened the ranks of separatist insurgents and Islamist
   groups that attacked Mali's army in early 2012, effectively seizing
   control of the north of the country in April.

   In December, Libyan Prime Minister Ali Zeidan announced the closing of
   Libya's southern border. Security experts greeted the announcement with
   skepticism, arguing that Libya didn't have enough military resources to
   police the length of the country's southern borders of nearly 4,600
   kilometers.

   Earlier this month, and just four days before al-Qaida-linked fighters
   from Mali attacked the Ain Amenas gas facility in Algeria, Libyan,
   Algerian and Tunisian leaders pledged to cooperate to improve border
   security.

   But all three countries are confronted by the same problem: long remote
   desert borders that are hard to monitor let alone police.

   Porous borders
   Even before the Arab Spring, jihadist fighters and traffickers in
   tobacco, drugs and guns could cross the desert borders with relative
   ease.  But those borders have become even less secure over the past two
   years, according to security expert Paul Sullivan, an analyst at the
   National Defense University in Washington, DC.

   "AQIM and others like them find moving about the deserts and in cities
   a lot easier than when the dictators slammed on just about everyone,"
   said Sullivan.

    The al Qaida-linked fighters who mounted last week's assault on the
   Ain Amenas compound are thought to have entered Algeria undetected by
   taking a circuitous route through Libya from their camps in Africa's
   arid Sahel, mostly likely transiting the Salvador Pass on Libya's
   border with Algeria and Niger, say U.S. and Libyan security sources.

   Speaking on Libya's Alwataneya TV station last week, Libya's Prime
   Minister Ali Zeidan said he was deeply worried about possible fallout
   from Mali. He called on North African countries and those in the Sahel
   region to the south to develop security plans to contain the violence.

   Libya is now focusing its forces on strengthening security around its
   oil facilities on the borders with Tunisia, Algeria and Niger,
   government officials say.
     __________________________________________________________________

   [1]http://www.voanews.com/content/libya-fears-mali-rebels/1593763.html

References

   1. http://www.voanews.com/content/libya-fears-mali-rebels/1593763.html