French troops recapture two towns from Mali jihadists, Egypt's Morsi warns French to butt out

The Muslim Brotherhood President of Egypt sides with the bloody jihadists of Mali.

"French troops recapture key towns in Mali as Egypt sends warnings," from Al Arabiya, January 22 (thanks to Voice of the Copts):

French and Malian troops recaptured Tuesday two key towns from al-Qaeda-linked Islamists holding the country’s north, as Egypt warned the Paris-led offensive could spark regional conflict.
The inroads into the central towns of Diabaly and Douentza marked a significant advance in the 11-day offensive led by former colonial power France, whose aim is the “total re-conquest” of Mali’s vast semi-arid north.

But Egypt, a regional powerhouse currently under the grip of Islamists, warmed that breaking the ranks with the global community could turn the vast arid zone of Sub Shara [sic] Africa into a new Afghanistan

“We do not accept at all the military intervention in Mali because that will fuel conflict in the region,” President Mohamed Mursi said Monday.

But in Diabaly, local residents applauded wildly as a convoy of about 30 armored vehicles with some 200 Malian and French troops moved into the town.

French military officials and local residents said the fleeing Islamists had riddled the town with landmines.

“There is a problem with unexploded ammunition,” said Lt. Col. Frederic, in charge of the operations in Diabaly, who identified himself by his first name only in line with French army policy.

Diabaly, which lies 400 kilometers north of the capital Bamako, has been the theater of air strikes and fighting since it was seized by Islamists a week ago.

French Defence Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said the town of Douentza, which had been under Islamist control since September, had also been retaken by French and Malian troops.

Douentza is a strategic crossroads town some 100 kilometers east of Konna, whose capture earlier this month by extremists saw the French army swoop to the aid of the crippled and weak Malian army.

“The military operations to liberate the occupied regions of our country are panning out well and the need to install a peaceful social climate throughout the country,” a government statement said....

Mali’s crisis first erupted when the nomadic Tuaregs, who have long felt marginalized by the government, launched a rebellion a year ago and inflicted such humiliation on the Malian army that it triggered a military coup in Bamako in March.

The Tuaregs allied with Islamist groups including Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) and seized control of huge swathes of territory including the main northern towns of Gao, Kidal and fabled Timbuktu.

The Islamists soon chased out their more secular Tuareg allies and began imposing an extreme form of sharia, or Islamic law, flogging, amputating and sometimes executing violators.

There is no "moderate form of Sharia." Every form of Sharia contains those "extreme" elements. They are just not always implemented.

Their success in seizing a vast stretch of desert territory raised fears they could use northern Mali as a base to launch attacks on the region, Europe and beyond.

No kidding, really?

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6 Comments

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Thomas Pellow | January 22, 2013 9:18 AM | Reply

The role of Emirate of QATAR (owners of Al Jazeera) in supporting the

Islamic jihadists in Mali could be significant.

"Is Qatar fuelling the crisis in north Mali?"

http://www.france24.com/en/20130121-qatar-mali-france-ansar-dine-mnla-al-qaeda-sunni-islam-doha

This would be in line with Qatar's support for e.g. Islamic jihadists of Hamas.

duh_swami | January 22, 2013 9:29 AM | Reply

There is no "moderate form of Sharia." Every form of Sharia contains those "extreme" elements. They are just not always implemented.

Not always implemented, but always 'on the books', and can be implemented at any time...

PJG replied to comment from duh_swami | January 22, 2013 6:26 PM | Reply

And increasingly WILL be implemented if the West doesn't collectively pull its finger out and punish them. Because the more success they have over there, the more arrogant they are here.

exsgtbrown | January 23, 2013 7:09 AM | Reply

French and Malian troops recaptured Tuesday two key towns from al-Qaeda-linked Islamists holding the country’s north, as Egypt warned the Paris-led offensive could spark regional conflict.

I believe the never ending MUSLIM assaults upon innocent people would be the cause of any sparking of regional conflicts...just as it invariably is...

Omar | January 23, 2013 2:53 PM | Reply

This is gonna be great. The Egyptians will take BHO's new F-16's and use them against the NATO member France. You could never think this stuff up. With a muzlim Islamist as president and him being a savior of some sorts this may get interesting. Imagine BHO commanding the shies to take lightening and zap the French into submission to ollah.

gravenimage | January 23, 2013 5:49 PM | Reply

French troops recapture two towns from Mali jihadists, Egypt's Morsi warns French to butt out
............................

Anyone who still believes that Morsi is "moderate" will be surprised by this, but anyone who understands the Muslim Brotherhood will not be.

Seyyid Qtub, who wrote the Muslim Brotherhood handbook "Milestones" back in 1961, noted that the first thing any Muslim state is supposed to do is impose Shari'ah.

That is *exactly* what Morsi is doing here.

And what does Shari'ah look like in northern Mali? They are destroying churches there, amputating the limbs of suspected petty thieves, and stoning unmarried couples to death.

Note that Morsi has not criticized even these horrors.

Egypt has already imposed Shari'ah law, and is already prosecuting "blasphemy" cases. Don't expect them to stop there.

French and Malian troops recaptured Tuesday two key towns from al-Qaeda-linked Islamists holding the country’s north, as Egypt warned the Paris-led offensive could spark regional conflict.
............................

But seizing the entire northern half of a nation, imposing oppressive and savage strictures, and creating a massive international refugee crisis isn't creating a "regional crisis"...sarc/off

But Egypt, a regional powerhouse currently under the grip of Islamists, warmed that breaking the ranks with the global community could turn the vast arid zone of Sub Shara [sic] Africa into a new Afghanistan
............................

Norhtern Mali is *already* a new Afghanistan—Afghanistan under the brutal Taliban, that is...

More:
More:

The Tuaregs allied with Islamist groups including Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) and seized control of huge swathes of territory including the main northern towns of Gao, Kidal and fabled Timbuktu.

The Islamists soon chased out their more secular Tuareg allies and began imposing an extreme form of sharia, or Islamic law, flogging, amputating and sometimes executing violators.
............................

Well, duh. This should come as a warning to anyone foolish enough to "ally" with Jihdists, but it probably won't.

And, as noted, there is no "extreme Shari'ah". These horrors are absolutely mainstream Shari'ah,—indeed, something we may see imposed in Egypt itself if the Muslim Brotherhood consolidates their power sufficiently.

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