Ex pluribus terroris unum terroristis, Moustapha Ould Limam Chafi

In 2005 president Obama and the Secretary of State established the Trans-Sahara Counter terrorism Partnership (TSCTP). This U.S. funded program is designed to build the capacity and cooperation of military, law enforcement, and civilian actors across North and West Africa to counter terrorism.

The TSCTP partners ( Algeria, Burkina Faso, Cameroon (joined in 2014), Chad, Mali, Mauritania, Morocco, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, and Tunisia) all agreed to cooperate in areas of support including the [(5)] monitoring and countering the financing of terrorism, such as that related to kidnapping for ransom.

The U.S. Office of Terrorism Finance and Economic Sanctions Policy, which woks in conjunction with The TSCTP, it

• a-Coordinates efforts to build international support for efforts against terrorist finance in bilateral and multilateral fora;
• b-Works to coordinate and implement domestic and UN 1267 terrorism designations;
• c-Works through U.S. missions around the world to encourage countries to take actions to freeze terrorist assets when found;
• d-Works with U.S. missions to develop new initiatives to strengthen international cooperation against terrorist finance; and;
• e-Supports efforts to provide technical assistance to foreign governments working against terrorist finance.

Hence, it is within these guidelines that The TSCTP partners coordinate to fight all kind of terrorism funding.

Trans-Sahara terrorism “Inc.” is funded by many illicit activities such as-but not limited to, international drug trafficking, illegal immigration and migration, trafficking in persons, illegal arm trafficking, individual or group donations, and kidnapping for ransom. The IMF and World Bank estimate that 3%-5% of global GDP is laundered-approximately $2.17- $ 3.61 trillion annually. Narco-traffikers, kleptocrats, transnational organized criminals are but three significant entities that engage in the effort to disguise their illegal proceeds derived from more than 300 predicate crimes. And the kidnapping for ransom is included.

The New York Times found that Al Qaeda and its direct affiliates have taken in at least $125 million in revenue from kidnappings since 2008, of which $66 million was paid just last year. And by paying ransoms, Europe bankrolls Al Qaeda terror.

Ransoms are usually paid through third parties that are in contact with terror groups. One of these shadowy personalities is Moustapha Ould Limam Chaavi/Chafi. Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQMI), the MUJAO-The Movement for Unity and Jihad in West Africa, Ansar Dine, the CMA of the MNLA, and other obscure terror groups in the Sahel, they all rely on him to negotiate the release of western hostages. In 2010, Spain’s journalists reported that Chafi received about 2,3 million Euros/$2.6 million in commission from the ransom paid to AQMi in order to release the 4 kidnapped Spaniards. And when asked about it, he said that he did it for “humanitarian” reasons.

$91.5 million, that we know, has been paid to AQMI in ransom money since 2008, …”each transaction encourages another transaction…” and Limam Chafi, by coincidence, is always there for “humanitarian” reasons. Therefore, when you read this New York Times article you will now, be able to know the name of this anonymous negotiator.

Consequently, in December 2011, Mauritania issued an international arrest warrant against Limam ould Chafi for: financing terrorism; sharing intelligence with terrorist groups and; for financial and logistical support to terrorist groups active in the Sahel.

I can take you all the way back to the early 80's to tell you about Chafi’s inglorious past. I can even tell you what languages he speaks. But that will not do justice to you, the reader, for it will be more focusing on the persona rather than on his mischief.

Limam Chafi or Chavi, a Mauritanian national who travels with a diplomatic passport from Burkina-Faso, calls himself an adviser to many Africa’s lifer presidents; and one of them is the deposed Blaise Compaoré. Prior to Compaoré, Chafi worked as an adviser to president Thomas Sankara, the African Che, who was assassinated by his childhood friend Blaise Compaoré.

A political opponent to almost all Nouakchott’s regimes, Chafi does not miss any opportunity to destabilize the country. In 2003, he was financed by Gaddafi, in Burkina Faso, to conduct sabotage acts in Mauritania. The government arrested the mastermind behind the coup, and the plotters got life in prison but escaped the death sentence. Other defendants received between three years and fifteen years in prison with hard labor. Mauritania went further by accusing the rebels of running a training camp in the rebel-held north of Cote d’Ivoire, where Chavi was the adviser to the country’s president. Several of the accused, including Sidi Mohamed Mustapha Ould Limam Chafi, were sentenced in absentia,

Limam Chafi’s influence extends from Morocco to Qatar. He is like the “Energizer Bunny”, you find him everywhere. And where there is chaos or oppression, he shapes it. He whispers in the ears of dictators, like in Burkina Faso, Ivory Coast, Libya, Sudan and Morocco. Even the locals in the Sahel call him Emir of the ansar dine terror group.

One would think that after the arrest warrant, and the heat which his life on the beat brings, would force him to go underground. Not at all. He is an arrogant merchant of terror who is simply being protected by the king of Morocco and Qatar. Thus, it is preposterous for some Africans to even quote the name Jacques Foccart when discussing Chafi. Because by doing so, it will whitewash and exonerate terrorism from what it is.The law is clear, if one gains money from terrorists he becomes one. And out of many terrorists comes Moustapha Ould Limam Chaavi/Chafi.

By hajag.org for @StateDept @StateDeptCT @TheJusticeDept @USTreasury @DHSgov @WhiteHouse @Algerie_Infos