[{"command":"openDialog","selector":"#drupal-modal","settings":null,"data":"\u003Cdiv class=\u0022ds-1col clearfix\u0022\u003E\n\n  \n\n  \n  \u003Cp\u003EIn September 2006, Ayman al-Zawahri announced the merger of the Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat (GSPC) with al-Qaeda, raising fears the group would begin terror operations beyond Algeria\u2019s borders.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe \u003Cem\u003EGuardian\u2019s \u003C\/em\u003EIan Black noted in contrast that the group would likely remain a localized threat, citing George Joffe of Cambridge University, who matter-of-factly claimed that the group \u201cis Algeria-based.\u201d\u003Cspan class=\u0022footnote\u0022\u003EIan Black, \u201cA Homegrown Insurgency \u2013 or Global Jihad?\u201d \u003Cem\u003EGuardian\u003C\/em\u003E, December 11, 2007, \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/world\/2007\/dec\/12\/alqaida.terrorism1\u0022\u003Ehttp:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/world\/2007\/dec\/12\/alqaida.terrorism1\u003C\/a\u003E.\u003C\/span\u003E In contrast, the \u003Cem\u003EChristian Science Monitor\u003C\/em\u003E\u2019s Middle East expert, Aron Lund, warned the same year that \u201cthis alliance underlines the regional, rather than Algerian, focus of [the] GSPC.\u201d Lund pointed to a 2006 U.S. National Intelligence Estimate that \u201cseveral North African groups, unless countered, are likely to expand their reach and become more capable of multiple and\/or mass-casualty attacks outside their traditional areas of operation.\u201d Moreover, Lund highlighted reports that GSPC units were spreading throughout the Sahara\u2014popping up in Mauritania, Mali, and Niger\u2014not to mention in Italy, where police disrupted a GSPC cell that was financing operations in Algeria.\u003Cspan class=\u0022footnote\u0022\u003EAron Lund, \u201cMerger with Al Qaeda Deepens Threat from Algerian Radicals,\u201d \u003Cem\u003EChristian Science Monitor\u003C\/em\u003E, October 3, 2006, \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.csmonitor.com\/2006\/1003\/p05s01-woaf.html\u0022\u003Ehttp:\/\/www.csmonitor.com\/2006\/1003\/p05s01-woaf.html\u003C\/a\u003E.\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\n\n\u003Cp\u003EMeanwhile, the BBC\u2019s coverage several days after the report was published focused on the strong anti-France messaging from both al-Zawahri and the GSPC, noting that \u201cGSPC singled out France as its \u2018enemy number one\u2019 [in 2005] and issued a call for action against the country.\u201d Consequently, France\u2019s interior ministry conceded a \u201chigh level threat\u201d against France and France\u2019s domestic security agency concurred that the threat of an attack was \u201cvery high and very international.\u201d\u003Cspan class=\u0022footnote\u0022\u003E\u201cAl-Qaeda \u2018Issues France Threat,\u2019\u201d BBC News, September 14, 2006, \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/news.bbc.co.uk\/2\/hi\/europe\/5345202.stm\u0022\u003Ehttp:\/\/news.bbc.co.uk\/2\/hi\/europe\/5345202.stm\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":"Media Outlets Gauge Scale of Threat from Group\u2019s Allegiance to Al-Qaeda"}},{"command":"doFootnotes"}]