[{"command":"openDialog","selector":"#drupal-modal","settings":null,"data":"\u003Cdiv class=\u0022ds-1col clearfix\u0022\u003E\n\n \n\n \n \u003Cp\u003EWhile many news sources, such as the \u003Cem\u003ENew York Times\u003C\/em\u003E, resorted to labeling the diverse mix of jihadist groups operating in Mali as simply \u201cal-Qaeda linked,\u201d Al Jazeera reported that AQIM was operating under the umbrella of Ansar al-Dine. Specifically, Al Jazeera noted that they were \u201ca group of local Ifoghas Tuaregs, Berabiche Arabs and other local ethnic groups\u201d who shared AQIM\u2019s desire for implementing Sharia. According to the report, AQIM\u2019s relationship with Ansar al-Dine was \u201canalogous to the associate between the Taliban and al-Qaeda in Afghanistan, with Ansar al-Dine playing host,\u201d while another group, the Movement for Unity and Jihad in West Africa (MUJWA), was \u201csplit off from AQIM\u201d but was happy to work together with it for common purposes.\u003Cspan class=\u0022footnote\u0022\u003EMay Ying Welsh, \u201cMaking Sense of Mali\u2019s Armed Groups,\u201d Al Jazeera, January 17, 2013, \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/indepth\/features\/2013\/01\/20131139522812326.html\u0022\u003Ehttp:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/indepth\/features\/2013\/01\/20131139522812326.html\u003C\/a\u003E.\u003C\/span\u003E \u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe \u003Cem\u003ENew York Times\u003C\/em\u003E further clarified AQIM\u2019s larger role in Mali in December 2012, when it reported top U.S. military commander in Africa General Carter F. Ham, saying that AQIM was running training camps in northern Mali and providing weapons and funding to Boko Haram in Nigeria. The article noted that Boko Haram members \u201chad traveled to [AQIM] training camps in northern Mali,\u201d and described General Ham\u2019s comments as \u201cthe most detailed and sobering American military analysis so far of the consequences of\u201d AQIM gaining control of a safe haven in northern Mali.\u003Cspan class=\u0022footnote\u0022\u003EEric Schmitt, \u201cAmerican Commander Details Al Qaeda\u2019s Strength in Mali,\u201d \u003Cem\u003ENew York Times\u003C\/em\u003E, December 3, 2012, \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2012\/12\/04\/world\/africa\/top-american-commander-in-africa-warns-of-al-qaeda-influence-in-mali.html\u0022\u003Ehttp:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2012\/12\/04\/world\/africa\/top-american-commander-in-africa-warns-of-al-qaeda-influence-in-mali.html\u003C\/a\u003E.\u003C\/span\u003E In the \u003Cem\u003EGuardian\u003C\/em\u003E, Jason Burke wrote that the violence in Mali was partly due to the fact that AQIM had taken advantage of \u201carms, anarchy and auxiliaries\u201d to become a force capable of battling the French army.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\n\u003Cp\u003EHowever, the rule that AQIM, Ansar al-Dine, and MUJAO enjoyed in the north did not last long. This is because, as Burke also notes, the feud between Mokhtar Belmokhtar and Abdelmalek Droukdel created problems within AQIM. Belmokhtar was so upset about not being promoted to lead a faction of AQIM that he \u201cset about planning operations that would upstage those of AQIM itself.\u201d\u003Cspan class=\u0022footnote\u0022\u003EJason Burke, \u201cMali: How Did It Come to This?\u201d \u003Cem\u003EGuardian\u003C\/em\u003E (London), January 17, 2013, \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/world\/2013\/jan\/17\/mali-aqim-background\u0022\u003Ehttp:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/world\/2013\/jan\/17\/mali-aqim-background\u003C\/a\u003E.\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAfter France intervened and put the jihadist groups \u201con the run\u201d in the northern desert and mountainous regions of the country, \u003Cem\u003ETime \u003C\/em\u003Ewrote in early February 2013 that France\u2019s military campaign had been \u201cso successful\u201d that the French President planned to visit \u201cscarcely three weeks after the anti-Islamist operation began January 11.\u201d\u003Cspan class=\u0022footnote\u0022\u003EBruce Crumley, \u201cFrance\u2019s Next Move: With Mali\u2019s Islamists on the Run, Time to Talk to the Tuaregs,\u201d CNN, February 1, 2013, \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/world.time.com\/2013\/02\/01\/frances-next-move-with-malis-islamists-on-the-run-time-to-talk-to-the-tuaregs\/\u0022\u003Ehttp:\/\/world.time.com\/2013\/02\/01\/frances-next-move-with-malis-islamists-on-the-run-time-to-talk-to-the-tuaregs\/\u003C\/a\u003E.\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\n\n\n\u003C\/div\u003E\n\n","dialogOptions":{"minWidth":850,"resizable":true,"modal":true,"title":"Islamist Takeover in Mali"}},{"command":"doFootnotes"}]