Açıklama
The dominating geographical feature of northwest Africa is the vast Sahara Desert. It is in this region that Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) exports terror to Europe and other destinations around the world.1 The U.S. Director of National Intelligence assess AQIM to represent a "significant threat to the US and European interests in the region."2 "Geographical, political, and historical factors combine to make northwest Africa a more hospitable environment for Islamist terrorists.