Lemine Ould Mohamed Salem

Last updated
Lemine Ould Mohamed Salem
Born1968 (age 5556)
Notable work Salafistes
Le Bin Laden du Sahara: Sur les traces du Mokhtar Belmokhar
L'histoire secrète du djihad ; d'al-Qaida à l'Etat islamique

Lemine Ould Mohamed Salem is a Mauritanian journalist, director, and author who embedded himself with jihadists from Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) in 2012.

Contents

Biography

Salem was born in 1968 in Moudjeria, Mauritania. He has degrees in public law, political science, and international relations. [1] He first worked as a journalist for Al Bayane, and then as a correspondent in Paris for the French service of the BBC and as a contributor to Libération, L'Humanité, and Radio Suisse Romande. In 2007, Salem released a report revealing the presence of a CIA black site in Oualata, Mauritania. [2]

At the outbreak of the Mali War in 2012, Salem obtained authorization from jihadist leadership to travel to Gao and Timbuktu, which were under control of Ansar Dine, AQIM, and MOJWA at the time. The images and videos he recorded during his time in the cities were used for the documentary Salafistes which he co-directed with Francois Margolin and released in 2016. [3] Abderrahmane Sissako, a Mauritanian filmmaker initially associated with the project, withdrew from it in December 2012 and used Salem's images as inspiration for the fictional movie Timbuktu which was released in 2014. [4]

In 2015, he worked as a correspondent for the Tribune de Genève, Le Soir, Le Temps, and Sud Ouest. [5] [6]

Publications

In 2014, Salem released the book Le Bin Laden du Sahara: Sur les traces du jihadiste Mokhtar Belmokhtar (The Bin Laden of the Sahara: In the Footsteps of Mokhtar Belmokhtar) about his time embedded in AQIM. [7]

In 2018, Salem published L'histoire Secrete du Djihad: D'al-Qaida a l'Etat Islamique (The Secret History of Jihad: From al-Qaeda to the Islamic State) about Mahfouz Ould al-Walid, a close companion of al-Qaeda emir Osama bin Laden. [8]

Filmography

Bibliography

Related Research Articles

al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb Islamist militant organization in Northwest Africa and the Sahel

Al-Qaeda in the Lands of the Islamic Maghreb, or AQIM, is an Islamist militant organization that aims to overthrow the Algerian government and institute an Islamic state. To that end, it is currently engaged in an insurgency campaign in the Maghreb and Sahel regions.

The Movement for Oneness and Jihad in West Africa or the Movement for Unity and Jihad in West Africa, was a militant Islamist organisation that broke off from Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb with the intended goal of spreading jihad across a larger section of West Africa, as well as demanding the expulsion of all French interests that operate in West Africa, which they regard as "colonialist occupiers".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Omar Ould Hamaha</span> Islamist militia commander (1965–2014)

Omar Ould Hamaha was an Islamist militia commander from Northern Mali. During the 2012 Northern Mali conflict he became known alternatively as the spokesman and chief of staff for both Ansar Dine and Movement for Oneness and Jihad in West Africa (MOJWA), militant groups associated with Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mokhtar Belmokhtar</span> Algerian al-Qaeda member (1972–2016)

Mokhtar Belmokhtar, also known as Khalid Abu al-Abbas, The One-Eyed, Nelson, and The Uncatchable, was an Algerian leader of the group Al-Murabitoun, former military commander of Al-Qaeda in the Maghreb, smuggler and weapons dealer. He was twice convicted and sentenced to death in absentia under separate charges in Algerian courts: in 2007 for terrorism and in 2008 for murder. In 2004, he was sentenced to life imprisonment in Algeria for terrorist activities.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Abdelhamid Abou Zeid</span> Algerian al-Qaeda member

Abdelhamid Abou Zeid, was an Algerian national and Islamist jihadi militant and smuggler who, in about 2010, became one of the top three military commanders of al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM), a Mali-based militant organization. He competed as the chief rival of Mokhtar Belmokhtar, an Algerian national who had become the major commander in AQIM and later head of his own group. Both gained wealth and power by kidnapping and ransoming European nationals. After taking control of Timbuktu in 2012, Abou Zeid established sharia law and destroyed Sufi shrines.

Al-Mourabitoun was an African militant jihadist organization formed by a merger between Ahmed Ould Amer, a.k.a. Ahmed al-Tilemsi's Movement for Oneness and Jihad in West Africa and Mokhtar Belmokhtar's Al-Mulathameen. On 4 December 2015, it joined Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM). The group sought to implement Sharia law in Mali, Algeria, southwestern Libya, and Niger.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Islamic State – Sahil Province</span> Islamist militia

The Islamic State – Sahel Province (ISSP), formerly known as Islamic State in the Greater Sahara (IS-GS), is an Islamist militant group adhering to the ideology of Salafi Jihadism. IS-GS was formed on 15 May 2015 as the result of a split within the militant group Al-Mourabitoun. The rift was a reaction to the adherence of one of its leaders, Adnan Abu Walid al-Sahraoui, to the Islamic State. From March 2019 to 2022, IS-GS was formally part of the Islamic State – West Africa Province (ISWAP); when it was also called "ISWAP-Greater Sahara". In March 2022, IS declared the province autonomous, separating it from its West Africa Province and naming it Islamic State – Sahil Province (ISSP).

The Battle of Timetrine was a battle between French forces and al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) militants in Timetrine, in Tessalit.

Ahmed al-Tilemsi, nom de guerre of Abderrahmane Ould El Amar was a Malian jihadist leader and drug trafficker who served as a founding member and senior figure of the Movement for Oneness and Jihad in West Africa (MUJAO) and a senior figure and alleged emir of al-Mourabitoun.

Nabil Makhloufi, nom de guerre Nabil Abou Alqama, was an Algerian jihadist who fought in the Algerian Civil War and the Mali War, and served as the head of Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM)'s Sahara region between 2011 and 2012.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hamada Ould Mohamed Kheirou</span> Mauritanian jihadist and founder of MUJAO

Hamada Ould Mohamed Kheirou nom de guerre Abu Qum-Qum was a Mauritanian jihadist and the founder of the Movement for Oneness and Jihad in West Africa (MUJAO/MOJWA).

Abu Bakr al-Nasr, nom de guerre L'Égyptien, was an Egyptian jihadist who served as the emir of the Malian jihadist group Al-Mourabitoun from its foundation in 2013 until his death in 2014.

Abdou Aïssa, nom de guerre Sultan Ould Bady, is a Malian jihadist and drug trafficker. He co-founded the Movement for Oneness and Jihad in West Africa (MOJWA) with Hamada Ould Mohamed Kheirou and Ahmed al-Tilemsi, and founded Katibat Salahadin, a katiba within MOJWA that later reformed in the Islamic State in the Greater Sahara after Bady defected.

Mohamed Lemine Ould El Hassen, nom de guerre Abdallah al-Chinguetti, was a Mauritanian jihadist and commander of Katiba Al Furqan of the Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb.

Abderrahmane Talha, also known as Abou Talha al-Mauritani or Talha al-Libyy, is a Mauritanian jihadist who is the wali of Jama'at Nasr al-Islam wal Muslimin's territory in Tombouctou Region.

On July 4, 2009, clashes broke out between Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) and Malian forces near Araouane, Mali.

On June 16, 2009, Malian forces clashed with jihadists from Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb in Garn-Akassa, Kidal Region, Mali.

The Tourine ambush, also known as the Tourine massacre, was one of the September 14, 2008, jihadists from Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) ambushed Mauritanian soldiers in the village of Tourine, near Zouérat, Mauritania. The ambush was the first major attack by AQIM during the Insurgency in the Sahel, and sparked major changes in the Mauritanian military.

On June 4, 2005, militants from the Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat (GSPC) attacked a Mauritanian army barracks in Lemgheity, Mauritania.

On January 8, 2011, French and Nigerien commandos attempted to retrieve two French nationals taken hostage by AQIM militants in Niamey, Niger in the desert near Tabankort, Mali. Both hostages were killed during the botched rescue operation, along with three Nigerien soldiers and four kidnappers. The rescue operation's failure sparked controversy in France as it was reported that one of the hostages was killed by French gunfire.

References

  1. ""Sans plan Marshall, la France continuera d'envoyer ses hommes et ses armes dans le désert"". La Voix du Nord (in French). 2016-01-24. Retrieved 2024-04-23.
  2. Salem, Lemine Ould M. "La Mauritanie accueillante avec la CIA". Libération (in French). Retrieved 2024-04-23.
  3. "L'interdiction de "Salafistes" aux moins de 18 ans confirmée par Fleur Pellerin". www.telerama.fr (in French). 2016-01-27. Retrieved 2024-04-23.
  4. "" Salafistes », le documentaire qui a inspiré « Timbuktu "". Le Monde.fr (in French). 2015-12-10. Retrieved 2024-04-23.
  5. Salem, Lemine Ould M. (October 12, 2005). "Les ex-enfants soldats libériens face aux urnes". Le Temps. Retrieved April 23, 2024.
  6. "Lémine OULD M. Salem". Policy Center. Retrieved 2024-04-23.
  7. Salem, Lemine Ould M. (2014-10-25). Le Ben Laden du Sahara. Sur les traces du jihadiste Mokhtar Belmokhtar: Sur les traces du jihadiste Mokhtar Belmokhtar (in French). Martinière Beaux-livres(De La). ISBN   978-2-7324-6674-3.
  8. "Lemine ould m salem - L'histoire secrète du djihad ; d'al-Qaida à l'Etat islamique". Librairie Ombres Blanches. Retrieved 2024-04-23.