Atlantic Council

Rudolph Atallah, senior fellow in the Atlantic Council’s Michael S. Ansari Africa Center, testified at a House of Representatives Committee on Foreign Affairs hearing on “The Tuareg Revolt and the Mali Coup.”

In analyzing the situation, Atallah drew upon his knowledge of the Sahel region and of the Tuareg nomads who inhabit it, some of which was garnered when he spent extensive time with the Tuaregs between 2001 and 2003.

According to Atallah, “Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) needs money and soldiers. The Sahel has become an ideal ground for both, and the Tuaregs function as collateral. In a way, AQIM has hijacked the heart of the great Saharan trade routes, which is the indispensible lifeblood of economic growth along a vast 3,400-mile belt stretching from the Atlantic Ocean in the west to the Red Sea in the East, where goods and commodities move between Europe, the Middle East, and Sub-Saharan Africa. Left unchallenged, terrorists and drug dealers will exploit these routes for their long-term gains using the only people who know how to navigate the harsh terrain, the Tuaregs.”

Atallah told the Congressional panel, “The best approach to counter the current crisis in Northern Mali is to create a buffer zone around the areas where the Salafists operate. This buffer zone should restrict movement by air or ground of illegal goods entering the area. On a larger scale, a systematic regional approach aimed at targeting illegal drug trafficking, tobacco and weapons should be addressed to curb terrorists’ access to money. Diminishing cash flow will dry up funds to recruit and expand.” He also recommended an effective information operation campaign to discredit the extremists and greater support for border control and counterterrorism programs in the neighboring countries of Niger, Mauritania, Libya, Tunisia, Morocco, and Algeria.

Also testifying at the hearing, organized by the Subcommittee on Africa, Global Health, and Human Rights, were Ambassador Johnnie Carson, assistant secretary of state for African affairs; Earl Gast, assistant administrator for Africa at the US Agency for International Development (USAID); Nii Akuetteh, an independent Africa analyst; and Dave Peterson, senior director for Africa at the National Endowment for Democracy (NED).

Click here to download Rudolph Atallah’s prepared statement (PDF)

PRESS COVERAGE

• Experts Warn Congress of Terrorist Influx into Mali - Cindy Saine, Voice of America
• Islamisti sa pustili do histórie - Andrej Matišák, Pravda (Slovakia)
  
• Déstabilisation du sahel: l’Algérie s’implique dans la crise malienne - El Watan
• Situation au Mali: Le Congrès américain relève le rôle clé de l'Algérie pour résoudre la crise - El Moudjahid
• Le Congrès américain relève le rôle de l'Algérie - Karim Aimeur, L'Expression