Refugee camps recruiting pool for terrorist groups operating in Mali:EU counter-terrorism Coordinator

He reflected that AQIM wanted to spread its influence from Mali northwards in Libya, Tunisia and even in Morocco, where there is a growing worry about young Moroccans leaving the country to join the terrorists groups, with the risk that it implies of seeing them coming back to Morocco to commit terrorist acts. He also said there was a similar tendency developing amongst some dual nationals in Europe. Arrests has taken place in France and Belgium and there were Germans and Austrians in jihadi terrorist training camps in Libya, he pointed out.

The European official underlined the need to include Morocco in efforts aimed at settling the Malian crisis, noting that discussions he had last week in the Kingdom enabled him to realise that Moroccans are fully aware of the situation in the Sahel, He commended the strong operational collaboration between the Moroccan security services and their European counterparts, underlining that Morocco, which will chair the UNSC in December, will have an important role in adopting the next resolution on the Sahel,MAP reported.
 
Mr de Kerchove concluded that the longer it took to mount the military intervention the more likely it was that the terrorist groups would put down roots in the region, providing aid to displaced families and recruiting young men whilst denying aid convoys from international NGO's the right to enter the territory. He  called for the military mission to be deployed as soon as possible.