Global Jihad- Coming Soon To A Country Near You

After all that is going on in Mali, and the terrible tragedy that just transpired in Algeria, there are now worries that what started off as localized jihad in  Western Sahara  is now headed global.

Until 2012, Algerian Al-Qaeda affiliates in AQIM -- Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb -- were struggling to break from their Algerian roots. Now they are actively engaged in support of Islamic militant factions in Mali, including Ansar Dine and the Movement for Unity (MUJWA) and Jihad in West Africa.

Dominique Thomas, a specialist on Jihadist movements, told France Info radio that the hostage-taking raid in Algeria is part of a pattern by the region's militants to push for internationalize their jihad.

"Today, the jihadists, particularly AQMI, MUJWA, and groups that are linked to them -- with the exception, maybe, of Ansar Dine -- don't only have a local agenda; they have an international agenda," Thomas said. "And the objective is to try to internationalize the crisis, create a kind of international front for jihad in this region. This is done through a brazen operation that inevitably affects neighboring countries."

Michel Douti, a political governance expert at the Open Society Initiative for West Africa, said the membership of militant factions in the region also reflected the push for Islamic law that transcends national borders.

"The difference between AQIM and MUJWA is the difference between Coca-Cola and Pepsi, because it's the same coin, with two sides," Douti said. "Who can find the difference between AQIM and MUJWA when they all agree that it is Islamic law and Shari'a that must be imposed? Is it a question of skin? Because one can see now that the elements of MUJWA are made of up of majority from West African countries, especially Nigeria, Benin, and Togo."

More here.