Droudkel’s strategy will not change as Ben Laden died: expert

The strategy of Al-Qaeda’s branch in the Maghreb will not change by the killing of its leader Oussama Ben Laden, according to expert in Islamist groups in Morocco.

• “The Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat (GSPC) is not linked to Ben Laden but it is spiritually linked to the man No 2 of Al-Qaeda Aymen Zawahiri,” Doctor Mohamed Derif told Echorouk on the phone.
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• “The ideas adopted by Salafist Jihadist activists are inspired from Zawahiri’s thoughts. The GSPC’s announcement of its loyalty to Al-Qaeda in 2006 was intended to Zawahiri and not to Ben Laden,” he added.
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• Mohamed Derif believes that Ben Laden’s killing will not affect Al-Qaeda’s ideology as the man died since 2001. “He has been turned into no more than a symbol for the last ten years. Al-Qaeda was transformed from a strategic organisation into no more than a structure.”
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• He said Al-Qaeda may launch vengeance attacks in North Africa and the African Sahel. “There are fears of vengeance in the world. The first victims would be the four French people held hostage by Al-Qaeda in the Maghreb since September.”
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• “The most important question now is the political exploitation of Ben Laden’s killing in America.”
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• The Doctor believes that US President’s announcement of Ben Laden’s death is the emergency exit to pass to a second presidential term. “In his electoral campaign, Obama promised to eliminate Al-Qaeda’s leader. He has always sought ways to increase his popularity.”
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• “The killing of Ben Laden is a failure for Obama to some extent because the operation main target was to arrest him alive and not to kill him.”