Mali: AQIM's New Recruiting Tactics Ahead of Military Intervention

North African jihadist group al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb appears to be taking precautionary measures ahead of the impending military intervention in northern Mali. On Oct. 22, French and Malian media reports indicated that AQIM had already recruited hundreds of foreign fighters, including 150 Sudanese and Sahrawis, to augment its ranks. A spokesman for Ansar Dine, an ethnic Tuareg militant proxy for AQIM, denied these claims and accused the French government of spreading disinformation. But as Malian, regional and international officials plan for the military intervention, so too might the al Qaeda franchise group.