After years of trying to discipline him,the leaders of al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) in North Africa sent one final letter to their most difficult employee. In page after scathing page,they described how he didnt answer his phone when they called,failed to turn in his expense reports,ignored meetings and refused time and again to carry out orders. They claimed he had failed to carry out a single spectacular operation,despite the resources at his disposal. The employee,international terrorist Moktar Belmoktar,responded the way talented employees with bruised egos have in corporations the world over: He quit and formed his own competing group. And within months,he carried out two lethal operations that killed 101 people in all: one of the largest hostage-takings in history at a BP-operated gas plant in Algeria in January,and simultaneous bombings at a military base and a French uranium mine in Niger just last week. The al-Qaeda letter,found by The Associated Press is an intimate window into the ascent of an extremely ambitious terrorist leader,who split off from regional command to get directly in touch with al-Qaedas central leadership. Rudolph Atallah,one of three experts who authenticated the 10-page letter dated October 3,says it shows that,Hes sending a message directly north to his former bosses in Algeria saying,Im a jihadi. I deserve to be separate from you. And hes also sending a message to al-Qaeda,saying,See,those bozos in the north are incompetent. You can talk to me directly. And in these attacks,he drew a lot of attention to himself, The letter recovered in Timbuktu shows he stayed loyal to AQIM,until last year. Signed by the groups Shura Council,it describes its relationship with Belmoktar as a bleeding wound.
