Recently in Chad Category

West Africa, as we have often noted here, is increasingly becoming a safe haven for radical Muslims. From the Washington Post, :

With the end of the brutal conflicts in Liberia and Sierra Leone, West Africa is seldom in the news or on the policy agenda these days. Yet the region is quietly gaining recognition as what it has long been: a haven for al Qaeda and other terrorist groups. Weak and corrupt governments, vast, virtually stateless stretches awash in weapons, and impoverished, largely Muslim populations make the region an ideal sanctuary.

U.S. Gen. Charles Wald, deputy commander of the European Central Command, has been warning Congress and the Pentagon for months that al Qaeda-affiliated groups are active in Mauritania, Mali, Chad and Niger. The trade in diamonds used by terrorist groups, begun under the protection of former Liberian strongman Charles Taylor, continues despite international efforts to curb it. "The terrorist activity in this area is not going to go away," Wald warned recently. "This could affect your kids and your grandchildren in a huge way. If we don't do something about it, we are going to have a real problem on our hands."

Hey, isn't Qaddafi supposed to be our pal these days? From AP, with thanks to DC Watson:

Amari Saifi, the former No. 2 man of Algeria's violent Salafist Group for Call and Combat, was claimed captured by Chad rebels earlier this year as West African armed forces backed by France and the United States chased him across the Sahara.

Chad rebels told The Associated Press on Monday they had turned over two of Saifi's accomplices to Libyan agents at the two countries' border on June 25.

Libya, however, had failed to keep its word to turn over the two men to the West, Brahim Tchouma, an official in exile for the rebels' Movement for Justice and Democracy in Chad, told the AP by telephone.

As a result, Chad rebels were balking at turning over Saifi himself, Tchouma said.

"The Libyans didn't want to cooperate, and so we have stopped our negotiations" with them, Tchouma said.