Despite the “progress made on a global scale” in combating it, Al Qaeda “remains the main threat” when it comes to terrorism, Minister Giulio Terzi said speaking at the Global Counterterrorism Forum in Istanbul. The AQMI, Boko Haram, Shabaab and the AQAP, he added, “have become channels for the spread of violence from the Sahel to the Horn of Africa, to the shores of the Mediterranean and Red Seas”.
Terrorism feeds on instability and fuels piracy
International terrorism “feeds on instability and fuels piracy, kidnappings and illegal trafficking in drugs and weapons”, the Italian minister asserted, underscoring that the International community’s task is to “break this harmful link, in particular by stemming the financial flows resulting from transnational organized crime”.
Co-chairing the conference with the Turkish foreign minister, American Secretary of State Hillary Clinton described the Al Qaeda threat as spreading geographically, declaring that “we reserve the right to use force against groups that, like Al Qaeda, attack us and continue to threaten us”. In the struggle against international terrorism, she continued, “we will use the most exceptional means to ensure precision and avoid the loss of innocent lives”.
Danger persists despite progress
No less than 120,000 people have been arrested over the past decade on suspicion of terrorism, and over 35,000 have been found guilty, Clinton concluded. “Our citizens are safer”, she affirmed, but “despite the progress made, the danger remains urgent and undeniable”.
