Paris: France's top judge in the fight against Islamic terrorism on Friday said that al Qaeda's North African wing has shown no ability to strike in Europe or elsewhere beyond its zone of operations.
Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, born of a former insurgent group in Algeria, remains motivated largely out of a desire to attack former colonial power France. It currently holds four French hostages, and French officials have called the group the biggest terror threat to France and its interests.
In an interview, anti-terrorism judge Marc Trevidic suggested AQIM is being forced to work hard to control parts of its traditional territory in the Sahel region along the southern Sahara.
"It's been shown that AQIM is only able to strike in its own zone, by wanting to kill tourists and we have seen nothing emerge as a significant foreign operation in Europe that was really organized by AQIM," he said.
Still, AQIM has been active in offering statements of support through the Internet to would-be terrorists in Europe, Trevidic said, citing his recent case files.
"It's incitation without a structure behind it," he said. The group is "holed up, and already has troubles controlling its zone. Only when a terror group is very strong in its own territory will it begin exporting."
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