A Mauritanian man who received a death penalty in Mali for involvement in attacks that killed dozens including an American in 2015, was extradited to the United States to face a six-count indictment related to the same crime, the Justice Department said on Saturday.
Fawaz Ould Ahmed was taken into custody by the United States and brought to New York on Friday, the Justice Department said in a statement. Ahmed received a death penalty in Mali after pleading guilty to planning and executing the deadly attacks targeting Westerners.
Ahmed, 44, faces charges including the murder of US citizen Anita Ashok Datar and conspiracy to provide support to US-designated terrorist organizations Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb and al Mourabitoun, according to the Justice Department.
US Magistrate Judge James R. Cho ordered that Ahmed be detained pending trial.
Ahmed “now faces justice in a US courtroom for the carnage that was carried out allegedly at his direction,” US Attorney Breon Peace in Brooklyn said in the statement.
Ahmed told a Malian court in 2020 he carried out an attack on La Terrace restaurant that killed five and that he was also involved in planning a raid at Hotel Byblos in the town of Sevare and another at Bamako’s Radisson Blu hotel.
The Justice Department said a total of 38 people had died in the three incidents.
“The defendant’s alleged actions — inhumanely plotting and carrying out ruthless terrorist attacks — were not forgotten and will not be forgiven,” said FBI assistant director-in-charge Michael Driscoll.
The attacks in 2015, just months after Islamist militants in Paris stormed the offices of French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo and shot dead 12 people, marked a brazen new phase in jihadist operations across West Africa. The campaign hit top hotels and destinations frequented by Western tourists, aid workers and diplomats, which were no longer considered safe.
Ahmed told the Malian court that he did not regret the attacks and that he had been seeking revenge for cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad printed in Charlie Hebdo.
He was captured in Bamako in 2016 as he was preparing to carry out another attack armed with grenades and a suitcase filled with weapons on behalf of al Mourabitoun, Reuters has reported, citing local authorities.
US indicts Mauritanian man for role in deadly Mali restaurant attacks
https://arab.news/mzptq
US indicts Mauritanian man for role in deadly Mali restaurant attacks
India, Arab League target $500bn in trade by 2030
- It was the first such gathering of India–Arab FMs since the forum’s inauguration in 2016
- India and Arab states agree to link their startup ecosystems, cooperate in the space sector
NEW DELHI: India and the Arab League have committed to doubling bilateral trade to $500 billion by 2030, as their top diplomats met in New Delhi for the India–Arab Foreign Ministers’ Meeting.
The foreign ministers’ forum is the highest mechanism guiding India’s partnership with the Arab world. It was established in March 2002, with an agreement to institutionalize dialogue between India and the League of Arab States, a regional bloc of 22 Arab countries from the Middle East and North Africa.
The New Delhi meeting on Saturday was the first gathering in a decade, following the inaugural forum in Bahrain in 2016.
India’s Foreign Minister S. Jaishankar said in his opening remarks that the forum was taking place amid a transformation in the global order.
“Nowhere is this more apparent than in West Asia or the Middle East, where the landscape itself has undergone a dramatic change in the last year,” he said. “This obviously impacts all of us, and India as a proximate region. To a considerable degree, its implications are relevant for India’s relationship with Arab nations as well.”
Jaishankar and his UAE counterpart co-chaired the talks, which aimed at producing a cooperation agenda for 2026-28.
“It currently covers energy, environment, agriculture, tourism, human resource development, culture and education, amongst others,” Jaishankar said.
“India looks forward to more contemporary dimensions of cooperation being included, such as digital, space, start-ups, innovation, etc.”
According to the “executive program” released by India’s Ministry of External Affairs, the roadmap agreed by India and the League outlined their planned collaboration, which included the target “to double trade between India and LAS to US$500 billion by 2030, from the current trade of US$240 billion.”
Under the roadmap, they also agreed to link their startup ecosystems by facilitating market access, joint projects, and investment opportunities — especially health tech, fintech, agritech, and green technologies — and strengthen cooperation in space with the establishment of an India–Arab Space Cooperation Working Group, of which the first meeting is scheduled for next year.
Over the past few years, there has been a growing momentum in Indo-Arab relations focused on economic, business, trade and investment ties between the regions that have some of the world’s youngest demographics, resulting in a “commonality of circumstances, visions and goals,” according to Muddassir Quamar, associate professor at the School of International Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University.
“The focus of the summit meeting was on capitalizing on the economic opportunities … including in the field of energy security, sustainability, renewables, food and water security, environmental security, trade, investments, entrepreneurship, start-ups, technological innovations, educational cooperation, cultural cooperation, youth engagement, etc.,” Quamar told Arab News.
“A number of critical decisions have been taken for furthering future cooperation in this regard. In terms of opportunities, there is immense potential.”
