01011nam a22001337a 4500100002600000245009200026260003000118300000800148520054600156650002100702856013600723942000700859999001100866  aAmmour, Laurence Aida  aRegional Security Cooperation in the Maghreb and Sahel: Algeria’s Pivotal Ambivalence  aWashington DCbACSSc2012  a8p.  aThis is a security brief highlighting the growing influence of al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM), that has heightened concerns of instability across the Maghreb and Sahel. In recent years, AQIM militias have conducted operations across wide swaths of northern Mauritania, Mali, Niger, and southern Algeria. Mixing abduction of foreigners, car and cigarette smuggling, drug trafficking, and arms dealing, many consider AQIM’s motivations more criminal than political or religious hence fuelling illicit financial flows in the process .  aArms trafficking  uhttp://iffoadatabase.trustafrica.org/iff/regional_security_cooperation_in_the_maghreb_and_sahel_algeria’s_pivotal_ambivalence.pdf  cCF  c82d82