Posted on 01/12/2008 1:40:19 PM PST by Atlantic Friend
BISSAU (From the AFP)Two of the men suspected to have assassinated the French tourists killed in Mauretania on December the 24th have been arrested in Guinea-Bissau last Friday. The two men, who are believed to have links with Al-Qaeda, have been arrested by the local authorities with help from the French police, after a two-week run.
According to sources close to France's intelligence service, the arrests of the two suspected assassins were made possible by an intelligence operation led by the DGSE. This operation began on december the 24th and involved DGSE teams in Senegal, Mauretania and Guinea-Bissau. French police officers have also been part of the operation.
The two suspects confessed to have shot at the five French nationals, killing four, and said they had no remorse having killed "infidels" and "allies of America", said an official from the Guinean police.
"I am surprised by the determination of the two suspects, who, despite of prison, continue to claim they feel no remorse having killed infidels and allies of America", said Orlando da Silva, head of the Guinean police unit which arrested them.
The two men are believed to belong to the Maghreb wing of Al-Qaeda, the Baqmi.
"They say they are ready to kill again if they can" declared Mr de Silva.
"I shot the French and I feel no remorse", declared Sidi Ould Sidna to the investigators, quoted by Mr da Silva.
A judiciary source confirmed the two men had confessed : "They have confessed immediately and said they felt no remorse for having killed white people"
Ould Sinda, born in 1987 in Nouakchott, had already been arrested in 2006 for having ties to terrorist organizations. According to the Mauretanian police, he has been trained in the paramilitary camps of Algeria's Groupe Salafiste pour la Prière et le Combat, which then became the Baqmi.
He was charged of recruiting young Mauretanian nationals to fight in Somalia, according to the police. Oula Sidna had been put on trial and found not guilty by a Nouakchott court in July, 2007.
The second man, Ould sidi Chabarnou, born in 1981 in Nouakchott, had been arrested several times but never put on trial. The police believes he was tied to the GSPC and went to GSPC training camps for paramilitray training.
The two men were interrogated until Friday evening, and could be extradited to Mauretania. "We'll do our best to extradite them this saturday" said Lucinda Barboza Ahukarie, head of the Criminal Police.
According to Mr. da Silva, the two suspects had access to considerable sums of money and declared they were en route to Conakry, in Guinea, from where they had planned to take a plane to Algeria.
They were arrested on Friday evening in the Bissau palace Hotel, a 5-star palace near the airport. They preteneded to be businessmen and never left the hotel, probably waiting for a contact or for instructions.
The security has been stepped up around Guinea-Bissau's police buildings where the two men are jailed. The Guinean Army has sent men to reinforce the local SWAT teams.
Three other Mauretanian nationals have also been arrested Friday, and have been charged with helping the two fugitives.
"We are still looking for the third suspect, and will neglect no lead", said Mr da Silva.
All sarcasm set aside, this quick arrest is a good thing. If what transpires from this article is confirmed, these two guys have access to some interesting information about AQ's network in the Maghreb.
I know this part of the world... many europeans treat the West Africans like garbage... you mix that with some Al Quaida crazies and you get this kind of story.
Why? Is it because of institutional arrogance?
Since you know this part of the world, you know they don’t need Europeans or Americans to be treated like garbage. They have local guys who do that just fine.
Bad news. We were planning to vacation there, wonderful place.
This French family massacre was the reason this years Dakar race was cancelled last Friday. The race will probably never be run again. Glad they caught the scum, now just the string them up in public.
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