Africa and the United Nations Peacebuilding Commission

This chapter aims to provide an overview of the threat and spread of terrorism and of the Islamist influence in the Maghreb, as well as assess the counter-terrorism approaches of the three countries under review: Algeria, Morocco and Tunisia. It provides an insight into the spread and threat of terrorist organizations in the Maghreb. The chapter provides an assessment of the counter-terrorism strategies initiated by the three countries, among which are political strategies, socio-economic restructuring, and religious control and education. It focuses on the Islamist challenge in the Maghreb. Algeria has long been a focal point of domestic terrorism and is now a major source of international terrorism. According to some analysts it was the fourth largest supplier of &s;anti-coalition&s; fighters to Iraq. The terrorism threat in the Maghreb remains difficult to assess. Algeria has for a long time suffered from incidences of terrorism and Morocco&s;s terrorism threat was relatively unknown until 2003.