"Bombing Attempt Highlights Nigeria Concerns" Over Religious Extremism.
Bombing Attempt Highlights Nigeria Concerns
By SARAH CHILDRESS
The alleged attempted bombing of a Detroit-bound jet by a Nigerian national Friday raises new concern over possible extremist Islamic activity in Nigeria and West Africa, a corner of Africa where al Qaeda so far hasn't put down significant roots.
Violent extremist groups on the continent, including some inspired or affiliated with al Qaeda, have largely been focused on North and East Africa.
Early Saturday, it was still unclear whether the alleged attacker has any genuine links with extremist groups, in particular al Qaeda-affiliated groups. A senior U.S. official said late Friday the man -- identified earlier as a 23-year-old Nigerian -- told investigators he had been given the explosive device he detonated in Yemen and was connected to Al Qaeda.
Rep. Peter King, a Republican from New York and a member of a U.S. congressional homeland-security committee, said the suspect boarded the Detroit-bound flight in Lagos, Nigeria. The flight stopped off in Amsterdam.
The alleged bomber's nationality and his apparent origination in Nigeria raised immediate questions about airport security in Africa's most populous country, where corruption, organized crime and crumbling infrastructure have long hobbled an otherwise oil-rich government.
(Passengers would have likely been required to pass through separate security checks in Amsterdam. A Nigerian airport spokesman, speaking to the Associated Press, said Saturday the Lagos airport's security met international standards.)
But it also casts a fresh spotlight on possible extremist activity in Nigeria, where large populations of Muslims, concentrated in the north of the country, and Christian in the south have clashed violently in the past.
Despite sometimes-horrific violence along this religious fault line, there has been little evidence so far to suggest al Qaeda or like-minded groups have established a significant presence in Nigeria.
Still, there have been isolated incidents recently that have raised alarm bells. U.S. officials have long worried West Africa could someday be vulnerable to the sort of terrorist networks that are active in North and East Africa.
Last year, Nigerian police arrested five militants alleged to have plotted attacks on government targets in the country. Three were also accused of having trained in a camp run by al Qaeda in the Magreb, the extremist network affiliated with Osama bin Laden's group and active in North Africa.
In July, a local Islamic fundamentalist sect clashed with security forces in northern Nigeria, killing more than 800 people. The group, known as Boko Haram, which translates as "Western education is prohibited," has attracted many poor Nigerians disillusioned with their government and religious leaders.
On a visit to Abuja, the capital, in August, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said that it was possible that Boko Haram could have al Qaeda ties.
"There is no doubt in our mind that al Qaeda and like-organizations that are part of the syndicate of terror would seek a foothold anywhere they could find one," she said at the time. "And whether this is a homegrown example of fundamentalist extremism, that is up for the Nigerians to determine."
Al Qaeda has long established an official presence in North Africa. In 2006, al Qaeda's number-two operative, Ayman al-Zawahiri, permitted a militant Algerian group that had pledged its allegiance to al Qaeda to take the name al Qaeda in the Magreb, and operate as an affiliate of the global terrorist organization.
Al Qaeda is also suspected of recently building a strong presence in Somalia, which descended into chaos after the death of dictatorial President Siad Barre in 1991. For the past year, foreign fighters linked to al Qaeda have been arriving in Somalia from countries such as Pakistan and Yemen to support opposition force Al Shabaab, according to Western and Somali officials.
—Cam Simpson contributed to this article
By SARAH CHILDRESS
The alleged attempted bombing of a Detroit-bound jet by a Nigerian national Friday raises new concern over possible extremist Islamic activity in Nigeria and West Africa, a corner of Africa where al Qaeda so far hasn't put down significant roots.
Violent extremist groups on the continent, including some inspired or affiliated with al Qaeda, have largely been focused on North and East Africa.
Early Saturday, it was still unclear whether the alleged attacker has any genuine links with extremist groups, in particular al Qaeda-affiliated groups. A senior U.S. official said late Friday the man -- identified earlier as a 23-year-old Nigerian -- told investigators he had been given the explosive device he detonated in Yemen and was connected to Al Qaeda.
Rep. Peter King, a Republican from New York and a member of a U.S. congressional homeland-security committee, said the suspect boarded the Detroit-bound flight in Lagos, Nigeria. The flight stopped off in Amsterdam.
The alleged bomber's nationality and his apparent origination in Nigeria raised immediate questions about airport security in Africa's most populous country, where corruption, organized crime and crumbling infrastructure have long hobbled an otherwise oil-rich government.
(Passengers would have likely been required to pass through separate security checks in Amsterdam. A Nigerian airport spokesman, speaking to the Associated Press, said Saturday the Lagos airport's security met international standards.)
But it also casts a fresh spotlight on possible extremist activity in Nigeria, where large populations of Muslims, concentrated in the north of the country, and Christian in the south have clashed violently in the past.
Despite sometimes-horrific violence along this religious fault line, there has been little evidence so far to suggest al Qaeda or like-minded groups have established a significant presence in Nigeria.
Still, there have been isolated incidents recently that have raised alarm bells. U.S. officials have long worried West Africa could someday be vulnerable to the sort of terrorist networks that are active in North and East Africa.
Last year, Nigerian police arrested five militants alleged to have plotted attacks on government targets in the country. Three were also accused of having trained in a camp run by al Qaeda in the Magreb, the extremist network affiliated with Osama bin Laden's group and active in North Africa.
In July, a local Islamic fundamentalist sect clashed with security forces in northern Nigeria, killing more than 800 people. The group, known as Boko Haram, which translates as "Western education is prohibited," has attracted many poor Nigerians disillusioned with their government and religious leaders.
On a visit to Abuja, the capital, in August, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said that it was possible that Boko Haram could have al Qaeda ties.
"There is no doubt in our mind that al Qaeda and like-organizations that are part of the syndicate of terror would seek a foothold anywhere they could find one," she said at the time. "And whether this is a homegrown example of fundamentalist extremism, that is up for the Nigerians to determine."
Al Qaeda has long established an official presence in North Africa. In 2006, al Qaeda's number-two operative, Ayman al-Zawahiri, permitted a militant Algerian group that had pledged its allegiance to al Qaeda to take the name al Qaeda in the Magreb, and operate as an affiliate of the global terrorist organization.
Al Qaeda is also suspected of recently building a strong presence in Somalia, which descended into chaos after the death of dictatorial President Siad Barre in 1991. For the past year, foreign fighters linked to al Qaeda have been arriving in Somalia from countries such as Pakistan and Yemen to support opposition force Al Shabaab, according to Western and Somali officials.
—Cam Simpson contributed to this article
Labels: Corruption, Terror
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