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Vol 57 No 4

Published 19th February 2016


Burkina Faso

The long arm of Al Qaida

Last month's bombings in Ouagadougou could signal a much bigger campaign of attacks in Africa

Al Qaida's military-security chief Seif el Adel is suspected by Western security experts of having played a key role in the bombing of the Splendid Hotel and the Café Cappuccino in Ouagadougou on 15 January, Africa Confidential has learned. Seif el Adel, a nom de guerre meaning 'Sword of Justice', was born Mohamed Salah el Din Abdel Halim Zeidan in Egypt in 1960. He is one of five senior Al Qaida officials that Iran quietly freed last March in exchange for Iranian diplomat Nour Ahmad Nikbakht, though their release emerged only in September.

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