[meteorite-list] Mauritania, Morocco, Tunisia, and Safety or Terrorism Concerns

From: Galactic Stone & Ironworks <meteoritemike_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Mon, 23 Mar 2015 18:19:39 -0400
Message-ID: <CAKBPJW-gpgBa7aZXxPOJfd8-XpbhD4w-DXp10fvxmj-Wj5j4rQ_at_mail.gmail.com>

Hi List,

Let me preface this - I do not want this to get political and I want
to stick to how this situation impacts the meteorite world. I do not
want to engage or ignite a discussion about religion or politics.

I have been reading stories on the news wires about the operation of
terrorist cells and training camps in the remotest regions of the
Saharan Desert. It is no surprise that parts of Egypt, Libya,
Algeria, and Mali are used as havens or hideouts for terrorists -
these countries have had widely publicized problems with terrorist
activity, especially in the remote areas that are far from the central
government's control.

However, up until recently (the last several months), we have not
heard much about terrorist activity in Morocco and Mauritania. While
Morocco is still considered mostly safe for Westerners, neighboring
Mauritania keeps popping up in the media stories about Al-Qaeda and/or
ISIS activity. A few known higher-level terrorists being tracked by
Western intelligence services are known to have spent considerable
time in Mauritania (ostensibly at training camps in the remote desert)
before going abroad to carry out attacks.

Morocco has a long-standing history of cooperation and honorable
relations with the USA and that cooperation extends into the realm of
military black ops and intelligence. Indeed, Morocco hosted a CIA
"black site" for the "rendition" of terrorist suspects during the
years after the 9/11 attacks. Theoretically, this close relationship
with the West and social tolerance of Moroccan culture in general may
make Morocco a very tempting target for terrorist cells looking to
strike at Western interests, Western tourists, or secular/moderate
Islamic regimes that the terrorist hardliners consider to be
heretical.

While Mauritania has been mostly safe in recent years, there are
isolated incidents of violence against Westerners by Al-Qaeda-linked
cells. Given the recent high-profile museum attack in Tunisia, does
this situation make any Western meteorite hunters nervous? Are the
more-remote regions of Morocco and/or Mauritania still safe for
Westerners?

Are there any US or European hunters who have canceled plans to hunt
for meteorites in Morocco, Mauritania, or Tunisia because of the
recent security concerns? And lastly, have there ever (or recently)
been any terrorist-type attacks or kidnappings against Western
meteorite hunters in the remote areas of Morocco or Mauritania?

Best regards and Happy Safe Huntings,

MikeG

-- 
-------------------------------------------------------------
Web - http://www.galactic-stone.com
Facebook - http://www.facebook.com/galacticstone
Twitter - http://twitter.com/galacticstone
Pinterest - http://pinterest.com/galacticstone
-------------------------------------------------------------

Received on Mon 23 Mar 2015 06:19:39 PM PDT