Panetta: No question al Qaeda-linked group behind Algeria attack
Source: Politico
Defense Sec. Leon Panetta said that the attack and hostage-taking at a BP facility in Algeria is being carried out by terrorists with links to al Qaeda, something the White House has so far declined to say.
"I don't think there's any question that, based on what we do know, that this was a terrorist act and that the terrorists have affiliation with Al Qaeda," Panetta said in an interview with ABC News's Martha Raddatz.
He said he doesn't know if the attack is related to al Qaeda-related violence in Mali.
"You know, the exact motivations -- again I'm, I'm just not sure of," he told Raddatz. "All I do know is that when you're dealing with, with affiliates of Al Qaeda, that they're terrorists and they will do terrorist acts. And that's what they've done here...
"We've faced this kind of terrorism from Al Qaeda beginning with 9/11. We faced it, we faced it in Pakistan, we faced it in Afghanistan. We've seen it in Somalia, we've seen it in Yemen. And now we're seeing it in Algeria. That's what terrorists do. They have n -- they have total disregard for innocent men and women and children. And it's reflected in what they just did here in Algeria."
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Read more: http://www.politico.com/politico44/2013/01/panetta-no-question-al-qaedalinked-group-behind-algeria-154563.html
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just like the Al Qaeda in Yemen, Al Qaeda in Mesopotamia and Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula franchises..you, too can own an Al Qaeda franchise!