Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton indicated for the first time on Wednesday that there was an explicit link between the Qaeda franchise in North Africa and the attack at the American diplomatic mission in Libya that killed four Americans,including the ambassador,J Christopher Stevens. Clinton made her remarks at a special United Nations meeting on the political and security crisis in the swath of North Africa known as the Maghreb and the Sahel,a crisis that is particularly affecting northern Mali,which has been overrun by Islamic extremists since a military coup divided that country earlier this year. She said al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb,which originated in Algeria,was now using the region as a haven to support extremism and terrorist violence in countries like Libya. Now,with a larger safe haven and increased freedom to maneuver,terrorists are seeking to extend their reach and their networks in multiple directions, Clinton said adding And they are working with other violent extremists to undermine the democratic transitions under way in North Africa,as we tragically saw in Benghazi.
