PARIS: Osama bin Laden’s killing risks fuelling the threat of Islamic militancy in north Africa, scene of kidnappings and attacks by loyalists of his Al-Qaeda network, Mali’s foreign minister warned Tuesday.
The minister, Soumeylou Boubeye Maiga, was quoted by French daily Le Monde as saying that the killing of the figurehead was a blow to the Islamist network but could also boost support for Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQMI).
"The event raises the risk in the short term of a headlong rush" by the movement, Maiga said.
AQMI declares itself the north African branch of Al-Qaeda and has claimed several kidnappings by militants operating in Mali, Niger and Mauritania.
"AQMI militants have never needed material support from Al-Qaeda’s central command. But they benefit from its media notoriety, particularly for uniting Islamists in different countries in the region," Maiga said.
Such a concentration of militant activity in the region raises "fear of self-radicalization" by new militants, he added.
AQMI has claimed responsibility for killings and kidnappings including the abduction of five French nationals, a Madagascan and a Togolese whom it is holding in Mali after seizing them in Niger in September.
