Why should we be concerned what happens in Madagascar? It’s an island in the Indian Ocean off the southern coast of East Africa that is most famous for its gemstones and Lemur population.
The political stability of the island has been of concern for some time now. There are several factions involved and nothing seems to have been settled between the 2009 coup and the most recent attempt to overthrow the government November 17th. Things seem quiet tonight but the long-term outlook for Madagascar is clouded and dark.
This beautiful haven for 5% of the world’s plant and animal species a large portion of which cannot be found elsewhere is in danger of becoming the next Yemen.
When Jamal Khalifa was found dead in his gemstone mine in southeastern Madagascar in late January, it was unclear which was more puzzling: the murky circumstances surrounding his death, which his brother Malek emphasized to the press, or the more alarming assertion that he was involved in the African gemstone trade (Asharq al-Awsat, February 1). Jamal Khalifa was a widely-suspected al-Qaeda financier linked to a dizzying array of terrorist operatives, plots and front organizations across the globe. Through fronts established in the Philippines, Khalifa reportedly funded Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, a mastermind of the 9/11 attacks, and his nephew Ramzi Youssef to execute Operation Bojinka, a plot to simultaneously destroy 12 transpacific airliners bound for the United States from Asian cities. He is notably also credited with the creation of the Abu Sayyaf Group in the Philippines (Manila Times, February 1). Since 9/11, Saudi Arabia reportedly restricted Khalifa, who is also Osama bin Laden’s brother-in-law, to the kingdom and the seafood restaurant that he co-owned with his brother Malek in Jeddah. The fact that an al-Qaeda suspect of this profile maintained mining interests in Madagascar and elsewhere raises questions regarding al-Qaeda’s ability to capitalize on ungoverned spaces in southern Africa and beyond for its financing activities. Coincidently, less than a week after Khalifa’s death, Midi Madagaskira, an Antananarivo-based daily,reported that Fazul Mohammed, a Comoros-born al-Qaeda leader, had not only survived a U.S. air strike that targeted him in Somalia, but also had been seen in Majunga, a seaside town in northwest Madagascar [2]. Mohammed allegedly directed the 1998 bombings of U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania. If it is true that he found safe passage from Somalia to Madagascar or the Comoros, it strongly suggests that there was an existing support infrastructure there to facilitate his movements. Another possible scenario is that he was directing fighters in Somalia while based in Madagascar or another African country. [worldcheck.com]
Al Qaeda is not only involved in covert financing, it is heavily into commodities as its source for its funding. [meforum.org] In a world in which currencies are unreliable, commodities are not just untraceable, they are the most stable form of funding in the current global war of currencies.
Madagascar bears watching as do other areas around the glob that are unstable and have strategic importance.
©On My Watch…the writings of SamHenry. Registration pending.
DarcsFalcon
November 19, 2010
I laughed when I saw the picture, because there’s a cartoon (and a sequel and also a serial now) called Madagascar, the Penguins of Madagascar, et al. There is a lemur character called King Julian and he loves to dance, and he sings this little song. “I like to move it, move it!” I can’t see a lemur anymore without thinking of King Julian. 😀
As to the post, and AQ using commodities like that, it only makes sense. I know they’re also big into the drug trade in Afghanistan – poppies I think – so as to fund their terrorism. Why does no one wonder about a “religion” that encourages and makes its living off of illegal drug trading?
samhenry
November 19, 2010
Because they are busy doing it themselves? Who knows. All I know is commodities is the right way to do today. Everything else is about worthless.
blackwatertown
November 19, 2010
Glad you’re keeping your beady eye on the less newsworthy (as of now) parts of the world. Madagascar is certainly going the right way about encouraging foreign subversives with one coup after another.
samhenry
November 19, 2010
Thanks. It’s a religion with me – in between bouts of royal watching silly syndrome. I feel fortunate to have read the article that started it all with me because I went on to find out that this is their general operating method all over the world. Do you think I should let the CIA in on this? They are so terribly behind the times LOL